My thoughts on life

Lately, I have been thinking so much about this. This will be a serious blog. This entry is about what is most important in my life and how I view life in general. It is by no means an attempt to tell you how to live your life. Live as you like.

I will start off by mentioning the 3 things that are most important to me (in no particular order): family (+friends), health, and education. These are things that I cherish and appreciate most in life and could not live without. My life is centered on these 3 values. Everything that I do is in the name of one or more of these things. I will make sacrifices for any of my top 3 values for without them; my life would be painful and dreadful.

Now that what’s most important in my life has been established, I will address the more complicated topic of what the meaning of life is. I do not believe that the purpose of my life is the pursuit of happiness. I do confess that I had once thought so many, many years ago. Of course I want to be happy and laugh every once in a while, but the pursuit of happiness is not a fulfilling enough objective for me. To live life only to please oneself is rather narcissistic and simple. Furthermore, life is not all about fun and games. There are rough, depressing, painful, and tragic events in life as well. Death is a part of life. We will all experience such things in life and must deal with them accordingly.

I also do not think that the purpose of my life is to reproduce. That may be true for animals in the wild, but it does not and should not apply to civilization. Just imagine how overpopulated this world would be if that were the case. Where would people live and what would they eat? It bothers me that there are pious people out there that are adamantly against things such as abortion and stem cell research because they value life so much. I wonder why they value the lives of embryos and fetuses more so than the lives of young soldiers or impoverished people in developing nations. If they’re so concerned about life, why don’t they do something to help the people whose lives are being threatened? I certainly want to be a father someday, but the bottom line is there is more to life than just making babies.

The purpose of my life is not the pursuit of happiness or procreation. The purpose of my life is to help others and to make a difference. I firmly believe this. This certainly coincides with my top 3 values. My family and friends mean a great deal to me and I will certainly do my utmost to aid and support them whenever necessary. I value my own health as well as the health of others. I do make an effort to eat good food and exercise to stay healthy and avoid things that are damaging to my health such as smoking, alcohol abuse, and extreme sports. I want to be a doctor because I want to be in a guardian of people’s health. Last, but no least, education is what separates humans from animals. With education, people will behave in a more civilized and rational manner. People will act based on reason rather than instincts or hormonal drive and the world would be a better place. With education, we can solve many of the problems facing the world. As a doctor, education is a continuing process. Being a doctor entails a lifetime of learning. Ignorance certainly is not bliss.

I know that if these 3 things are in good-standing, I will be content. Hence, I do not live my life in the pursuit of happiness or procreation. I will maintain and build upon those values, and in the process, I will be happy.