Some people take the meaning of life to be like inventory in a warehouse — it represents only a spot a time, and based on whatever that is happening at the moment, we make certain conclusion about it (often negative), and perhaps even certain decisions;
Some people take it to be more like a P&L — you know in life you win some and you lose some; in your end of year review, you give your past year a label — a fruitful one, a wasted one, I remember even for myself there were plenty of dud years. Sometimes we stand back up and are able to make better new year resolutions; sometimes it becomes a negative spiral where one year becomes worse than the last.
God operates on a timescale that one cannot really fathom. Sometimes He gives such timely help that we are moved to believe He’s the every minute God. Having experienced Him in various different ways in the past almost 40 years (admittedly, some are the experience of neglecting Him), God definitely intends for us to work on an NPV basis. The tricky thing is…we never know His investment horizon. We know of the eternal, infinite reward, but like every VC investor — we want an exit strategy in “3 years”. As every investor would tell you, the investment horizon is really depend on its nature. Asset heavy, you may have to give it 5–10 years with a large cash outlay upfront; more tech / software based that builds on a network effect, a good investment will give you the return you want in 2–3 years. How do we translate that into the different subjects in life?
I do think an inventory view of life’s meaningful is a dangerous and misleading one. If you are to ask me what my purpose in life is, my answer would be — I don’t know yet. I know I want to love those around me well; I want to excel in my job; I want to contribute positively to the world; but there is no one definite thing that I absolutely must do and am fervently chasing after. But so what if I do? so what if it doesn’t come to me now? Life is very long, and the search itself is living too. For those lucky ones who already have a purpose — I hope you fulfill it fast enough (to be not burnt out), and I hope you find the next one fast enough too (lest you should feel anti-climatically empty after). I’m not saying that out of jealousy, but just that I know my time will come, and my time has come. The time is now. It’s not necessarily a chase, but an appreciative heart that pays attention to everything around me, take it in, check myself and really attempt to understand what gives me joy and what gives others benefit.
Like science — where researchers are constantly defining new grounds where they didn’t even have a name for before — life is that search where you give a name to every day, and with every little bit you learn — including the losses and the gains- you slowly piece together what it is all about.
