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“The two most important days in your life, are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 – 1910) or more famously known as Mark Twain, was called by many as the “father of American literature”. He was the writer of two major classic adventure novels “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. He was also known for his wit and satire, earning him friends from high and low societies. He was praised as the “greatest American humorist of his age.”
Finding one’s purpose in life is said to be the key to achieving happiness and productivity. Different beliefs offer different advices but the most common and well-tested method is through reflection. To quote Carl Sandburg, “It is necessary for a man to go away by himself…to sit on a rock…and ask, ‘Who am I, where have I been, and where am I going?”
Experiencing awe and doing voluntary works also result to self-awareness, according to studies. NASA scientist Adam Steltzner found his calling after he got awestruck by the constellation Orion one starry night. Instead of staying on a rock band, he took a physics course, earned his Ph.D. that led him to where he is now.
Other than finding success, knowing one’s purpose also contributes to longevity. Psychologists Patrick Hill and Nicholas Turiano discovered that living a purpose driven-life lowers a person’s risk of death by 15 percent. Other studies backed up their claim and suggested that living a purpose protects a person from stress, hence making him/her live longer.
To borrow Friedrick Nietzche’s words: “He who has a why to live can bear any how.”
