Life’s questions

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There will always be a number of questions that, when we truly set out to answer them, can impact our entire life as we know it. One of such questions is the following:
“Do we live our lives for others, or do we live our life for ourselves?”

The question in itself is burdened ~ at least for me it is ~ with all kinds of immediate thoughts on that it is a good thing to help other people, that focusing on yourself is egocentric, and a handful more of similar statements that may or may not be cultural dependent.
Each and every one of those statements carries a judgement with it. And whichever way we live our lives, the one thing that cannot be a good thing is to judge ourselves or others.

So back to the question…
Living our lives for others would mean that our wishes, our desires, even the choices we make in life are dependent upon other people. It would, when taken to an extreme, come to a point where what we need in our lives has become less important to what the other person needs, or wants; or just fancies right there and then.
Living our life entirely for ourselves carries the danger that we are no longer operating from a perspective of what we need in our lives, or which desires we are willing to make come true; we might adopt an attitude that says: “I want that and I want it now, no matter what others think or feel about it, no matter what I have to do to get it.”

Looking at both parts of the question as true, even extreme polarities ~ neither one is very appealing.

Yet if we want to become the best we can be, the best person, the best in our field of expertise; then it is important to make our choices accordingly. Not from the perspective of what anyone else would do, need, want or desire from us, but rather directed by our inner compass. That inner guidance, or drive, that gets us moving in the right direction. That allows us to unfold those aspects of our lives we are passionate about.
That being said, if there is no-one around to share you accomplishments with, it can be a lonely road to travel…

So perhaps the answer to the question is that we are living our lives for ourselves, and with others.
Where, as we make our own choices, as we guide ourselves in that direction that is best for us, we find ourselves in a position where we can encourage others to do the same.
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