I really appreciated this post on Medium by Darius Foroux titled, The Purpose of Life is Not Happiness: It’s Usefulness.
He explains that most things we do in life to find fulfillment or happiness, like taking a vacation or going out for dinner, going shopping or watching TV, are simply activities that are not useful because we are not creating anything.
He doesn’t buy the idea that our goal in life is to find happiness.
He said Ralph Waldo Emerson describes what it is to make your life count.
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
It all comes down to what are you doing that will leave this world a better place because you’ve lived. It doesn’t matter what you do that is useful to create or help someone, just do something that makes a difference, even if it is simple like planting a flower box to offer more beauty to passers-by.
Do useful activities that utilize your full potential. A wasted life is the most regrettable thing.
One Seeker's Story 