I agree partly with your closing, "we decide to define [it]."

What I am trying to do is agree and yet disagree with Lebogang's statement - "there is no purpose to life outside of itself" ... Beyond life itself, yes life has no purpose, and on the flip side of the coin, why are you "engaging" in life if it has no purpose? Are you aimlessly roaming the earth just because your lungs and heart are still pumping? See where that grey area comes in?

Take the life a ordinary man (can't find an alternative to "ordinary "), for some reason there seems to be an unwritten law that states that 1 must "Get born, go to school, get a job, get married, start a family and then die". Is that the purpose of life? And then you get guys like You, Lebogang and myself (not limited to) who somewhere between getting a job and dying chose a different path, we chose to jump out of "social specifications" and take a couple of risks there and there, if what I mentioned above i.e. Get born, go to school etc is the purpose of life, are our lives purposeless? Or did we decide define a different purpose of our lives.

I am fully aware that you speak for you.

By mentioning religion, I was merely attempting to bring to the discussion, that what we believe is the purpose of life, is usually based on what whatever particular religion we follow feeds us.

Again, by looking at your last statement, I think that you are talking about the purpose of a person, or, people, ... not the purpose of life itself.

To believe in God and being a committed christian does not mean your purpose is to spread the gospel, if you chose to do that, that will be an individual choice and goes back to you defining your purpose.

You, like most people do when the purpose of life is discussed, only covered the purpose of an individual's life within life.

What kept — and still do — great minds awake at night is their attempt to find out what the purpose of life is. That is, the purpose of life itself, not the purpose of the living.

I think it's either you (er, by "you", I mean any human being) don't know what the purpose is, or, your answer, as to what the purpose of life is, is based on whatever religion you adhere to.

there is no purpose to life outside of itself

That to say, if we try to give life meaning, outside of what life actually is, then your question comes into play, "for what?". But, if we accept to life, is only about being alive, well to stay so, well, that's up to the individual and that proverbial thing called, fate.

*(Ja, o nyaka gore remisha thlogo.)

In a biological sense, perpetuating the existence of our species could possibly be the only purpose. But, that too is debatable considering there is 7 billion of us.

We run to things like religion as refuge from our feeling of life's purposelessness (i.e., religion gives us the sense of purpose, and, as a cherry-on-top, a sense of belonging).

Logically, or, better still, as far as I've thought, life is purposeless*.

Which, I know, paints people like me as pessimists. But at the core of the assertion by those who believe life to have a purpose — lies a belief.

A religious doctrine.

*(Whatever your reason for living is: ask yourself: " ... and then what?" — ask that question to every single answer that you come up with).

*ps: if you can answer that question without thinking about what it is, then, just maybe you are right.

We capable of great things but we lack the ability to create, most of our lives are lived in thought rather than reality.

( Er, ... I lose my mind about six times a day, that there is a sign of a mind that's put to use. You can never lose something that's forever in one place )

it really is a beautiful moment

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. ” Oscar WildeI can't say i know you well enough, but still this seems out of character, almost hopeless. I hope things get better, cause i believe you've still got alot to give.

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. ” Oscar Wilde

You are an inspiration to me and indirectly you have helped me shape my life based on some values you have shared.

Stay strong through this roughness brva.

( I'm honestly tempted to say "Don't stop dreaming." But who the f*ck am I? I have never even walked a millimeter in your shoes. )

All I can say is that you are loved.

*I know that "love" pays rent - not.

I am good-ish today, work and time not in sync, but I'll be fine.

Again, thank you very much.

Merci.

I like that: "but you can stop believing in it."

I will work on that — I suppose in a 'relative' context, the "I" exists to make sense of the world.

Ta! for the NYT's article; It has touched on a few things I have been thinking about. Strangely after I had stopped 'tweeting', I have had more conversation with people in private (via IM or in person). I enjoy that more.

By the way, did you see this article? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/magazine/the-twitter-trap.html

"The most obvious drawback of social media is that they are aggressive distractions...Twitter is not just an ambient presence. It demands attention and response. It is the enemy of contemplation...The things we may be unlearning, tweet by tweet — complexity, acuity, patience, wisdom, intimacy — are things that matter. "