A Purposeful Life
An express train is tearing at full speed towards its destination. A continuous spectacle of lush crops and brimming streams and woody glades flashes by on either side. But however much the landscape attracts attention, the express train shows no interest in it. It ploughs across plains and mountains, over land and rivers, without reducing its speed. Small stations are dotted along the line, but even they do not interrupt the headlong flight of the train. It carries on, as if it will stop nowhere.
It is much the same with a purposeful life. One who has definite purpose in life will give it his full and undivided attention. He will not waste his time on peripheral issues. A purposeful person is like the traveler who spends every moment of his time steering himself towards his destination. Alluring worldly attractions may hover enticingly before him, but he closes his eyes to them. Luxurious shade invites him to cool down, away from the scorching sun. Splendid mansions invite him to rest his weary legs from the long, hard road. But he has no time for these things: all he sees is the goal ahead of him. He is beset by all kinds of different compulsions, but he steers clear of them and continues on his way. His determination to reach his destination does not alter with the ups and downs of life. The speed and direction of his journey remain constant through thick and thin.
A purposeful person is quite unlike a wayward traveler who, lacking direction, sometimes sets off in one direction and sometimes in another. A man with a purpose knows where he is going. The road he must tread clearly stretches out before his eyes. There is no question of his interrupting his journey or diverting his attention towards other things. He travels on and on until his purpose is fulfilled, his destination reached.
If life is to be invested with meaning, it is essential that a target be set. And one should be absolutely certain of the worthwhile nature of this target. In pursuit of it, one must have the total support of one’s conscience: it should permeate one’s entire being, coursing through one’s body just as blood runs through one’s veins. It is by exercising his powers of concentration while setting his heart on a particular target that a human being becomes different from the animals. When one focuses upon an overarching purpose, one’s life undergoes a drastic change. One becomes a completely different person. So total is one’s absorption in one’s quest in life that one has no time for petty side issues. One pursues one’s goal with unswerving dedication, not stopping to rest until it is reached.
