Reflection || Humanity and the Purpose of Life

I'm @techstyle how are you doing today, greetings to you all.
Do you know there are questions that linger in every generation, this are questions that don’t fade with time regardless of culture or season, I can say this is one of the most persistent simple but unsettling questions

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Why are we here?

This could also made the topic of discussion, why we are here as humans, because humanity has searched for the purpose of life in so many ways or places such as in the temples and laboratories, in quiet meditation and noisy debates, in the laughter of children and the silence of cemeteries as the case maybe, but still there has be a lot of work to figure out that we may not all agree on the answer recorded from this amazing research, but the search itself seems to be part of what makes us human and the reality of our existence in this world.

Few years ago, I remember a conversation I once had with a taxi driver during one of my ride to the city of Uyo, Nigeria. The man wasn’t quoting philosophers or preaching religion rather he said simply, “For me, purpose of life is waking up and knowing my children will have food tomorrow." Sounds like he had a best vision for the family right? for him "Anything beyond that is extra.” I kept that with me anyway, but In his world, the purpose of life was not abstract or cosmic rather it was practical, grounded in care of life and survival in the had economy of the country.


And yet, another friend of mine, an artist, once described his purpose completely differently. For him, life made sense when he was creating something that outlived his painting or talk of a song playing within, even a scribble that spoke to someone else’s heart.
He continued that “If my work makes just one person feel less alone,” he said, “then I’ve lived with purpose.” lol that's sounds very interesting right?

These everyday stories echo always and what thinkers have wrestled with for centuries. Even Philosophers like Aristotle tied life’s meaning to eudaimonia, a kind of flourishing that comes from living virtuously. In more recent times, Viktor Frankl, in his book Man’s Search for Meaning, once argued that purpose isn’t handed to us, it’s discovered in the way we respond to life’s challenges. Frankl, who survived the horrors of concentration camps, suggested that even in suffering, people can find meaning. That idea resonates deeply, especially when life feels unpredictable and painful.
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Psychology today often reinforces these insights. And Researchers also point out that people who feel they have purpose whether through family, community, creativity, or service tend to live healthier, more fulfilling lives than those without commitment to life purposes. Purpose, in other words, is not just a philosophical story; it shapes our well being in very real ways and only few understand this.

But beyond philosophy and psychology, there is a lived reality we all experience and Purpose it's self shifts with time. A teenager might find meaning in friendships and self discovery and a parent might find it in raising children. Others may find it in mentoring others or giving back to their community, and we must know that Success, failure, love, grief all of these can reshape what we believe life is about.

Moving forward I often think about the balance between individual purpose and collective humanity. On one hand, each of us has to find a personal sense of “why.” On the other hand, humanity as a whole seems to share certain purposes that transcend culture: survival, connection, progress. I believe we build cities not just to live in, but to leave something behind. So as we write books and plant trees not only for ourselves, but for those who will come after us, I remember the tree my grandma planted even before we were born is still standing tall, doesn’t that suggest to us that part of life’s purpose is continuity being a link in a much larger chain?

Yet, life also resists tidy conclusions. Some days, purpose feels clear; other days, it feels like walking through difficult times. Perhaps that’s the point: the search for meaning keeps us alive, curious, and connected. If purpose were too easy or obvious, would we value it as much?

In my own journey of life, I’ve come to see purpose less as a destination and more as a direction. It’s not something you finally arrive at and declare, “Now I have it.” Instead, it’s something that grows and shifts, like a river carving its way through land like "River Niger" The moments when I feel most aligned with my purpose are rarely the loud, dramatic ones. They’re the quiet evenings when I’m writing and lose track of time, the conversations that leave me feeling understood, the small acts of kindness that ripple further than I realize even as I m writing this post.

I can say maybe also humanity’s purpose, then, is not a single grand answer but a tapestry woven from millions of small, personal purposes. Each life adds a thread, each decision a bit of color and together they form something larger than any of us can see in full. So perhaps the real question is not “What is the purpose of life?” but rather “What is my purpose today?” The answer may change tomorrow, and that’s okay.

And now I wonder: when you pause long enough to look at your own life, what do you see as your thread in this post ?

Thanks for reading

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