In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.~Dalai Lama
Old Is Relative
Why am I here, and why am I wearing this silly party hat?
43 years ago today I was born… Sometimes it feels like it was centuries ago and sometimes it feels like it was just last week…
When I was a child, 43 was old! Everyone I knew in their 40s were ready for the nursing home, but they also seemed to have their lives together… They knew who they were and what they were doing… Or so it seemed to little me.
Now that I’m 43, it doesn’t seem so old. High school was just last year, wasn’t it? I’m not sure where these teenagers came from or why they look at me as a parent figure… I’m not ready for this!
I haven’t figured out life yet and it’s probably more than half over for me. How can I guide them?
How did the years slip by so quickly, and I don’t feel like I’m much different?
Why?
I am different though. I’ve put a lot of effort into changing who I am. But why? Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? I know, this question has been asked forever.
We all have our own surface answer, even if it’s “I don’t know”. What’s under that ready answer though? What if you keep asking why?
My answer to why are we here is “to learn and to grow”. That’s my easy, always at the ready conclusion I’ve reached after 43 years of life. I can throw it around as easily as a frisbee…
But why? Why are we here to learn and to grow? Hmm… That’s easy. To reach enlightenment.
But why do we need to reach enlightenment? Umm… I don’t know. Because it’s better than being unenlightened maybe?
Why is it better? I don’t really know.
Why aren’t we already enlightened? …
Why didn’t we just stay where we were before we came here? …
If you keep asking why, you’ll eventually realize you don’t know all the answers to why we’re here, no matter what your belief is. This is true for all questions such as where we go after this, why do bad things happen and why do we procrastinate…
So What Do I Do?
I have no answer for this question. I still feel like the 12 year old me, only with a lot less time to figure out what to do with my life. My life hasn’t taken a course I could’ve predicted. I started out as an artist and did that thing for a few years.
Seven years ago I took a government job that I hated because it was “time to grow up”… I was hurt just about a year ago on the job, had shoulder surgery and have been on temporary disability which is about to run out.
I’ve created this blog and am trying to figure out how to make a living online since no jobs have come my way. The funny thing is, I don’t like staring at the computer all the time…
I prefer the real world… Being outside, making physical things. Spiritually, I practice Core Shamanism as it fits in with my love of nature and my personal understanding of reality… I study all religions and spiritual practices though.
The digital world seems unreal to me, yet it’s where I’ve been spending most of my time. I never could have predicted I would find myself here at the age of 43.
Why? I don’t know… Is this the path for me? I think so. The internet allows me to reach so many more people that I could in my tiny Florida town.
Why do I want to reach others? To help them, I guess… Why? Because that’s my calling maybe? Why? I don’t know…
Why is an uncomfortable word. I wish I had more of my life figured out and I had more concrete answers for the whys…
I’m happy though. I’m home alone with the animals. I let the chickens out to free range this morning and now they’re on the front porch, looking at me through the glass door.
I think melding the natural world I love with the digital world is the path for me… We’ll see.
Why do you think this is your path? OH, SHUT UP WHY!
Doug Does Life 
Happy Birthday!
Thank you!
I can relate 100% Doug. I’d love to spend a lot more time writing and outdoors than at my ‘desk job’ that seems to suck so many souls. I’m in a why why why???? time in my life, too. And I thank you for the humor and inspiration on your site.
Happy birthday! Wishing you peace ~ Allison
Thanks Allison- I think many of us are waking up to the fact that there’s more to life than work and commuting. The trick is figuring out what we really want to be doing and the translating that into something that can support us.
Happy birthday! And good luck in sorting out the road less travelled – just don’t settle for less!
Thank you Crazy Crone! I’m not going to settle. I feel I’m closing in on my purpose.
Happy Birthday! I recently turned 70 and have yet to find the path without the ‘whys’. I’ve decided that’s probably a good thing because it keeps me searching and that, in turn, keeps me interested and involved with life. I love your writing…please keep it up. Your messages need to be heard. So, here’s your birthday advice from an old woman: make peace with your ‘whys’. It all works out.
Thanks! I’m glad you appreciate my writing. I don’t plan to stop as I enjoy doing it, and it seems to resonate with others. It’s nice to feel like I’m making a difference, no matter how small it may be.
I’ll always have the whys traveling with me. They’ve been there since I was born, I think. I don’t see them leaving now!
Thanks for sharing your advice.
Happy Birthday, Doug! ‘Why’ is a frustrating interrogative and I guess there’s no cut and dried answer to it, but in my opinion, we’re here to celebrate the gifts of our spirit by using and developing them to the best of our individual ability to enhance our environment in every sense of the word…Anyway, there’s nothing new about that, so who ever really knows?!
Thank you! I believe this as well. Again though, why?
Why makes me realize that we can never be sure or prove beliefs… I guess that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Yes! Wouldn’t life be boring if we could always find definitive proof for every single thing?! 🙂
Happy birthday! What a wonderful post on a beautiful occasion! Well that’s a good question. My answer to that why is, as Lama said, the only purpose of our lives is to be happy. I added to that and we’ve got this ‘The only purpose of our lives is to be happy and make others feel the same.’ Enjoy your day!
Thank you Sarvjit- That’s a good purpose to have in life. I think it should be incorporated in all other purposes as well…
Reblogged this on The Experience.
Happy Birthday! Don’t worry, you’re still young yet! Be happy all your parts are in working order.. (I assume). At 55 I’m discovering a whole new set of aches and pains when I overdo it, but we must keep on keeping on.. “Use it or loose it!”
I’m mostly in working order now, after a few months of rehab on my shoulder. Marching forward is all I can do. I’m about to start in with yoga again…
Happy Birthday Monkey Boy. You are in your prime and the world is at your feet. You can do anything you want…. But you are good at this. There is a reason. Maybe it is time to take this to a book and/or workbook…hint hint…. Many more happy Birthdays.
Jane
Thanks Jane- I’m trying to figure out what direction to go with my Doug stuff… I’m not business oriented so I get all flustered.
Happy Birthday! I just want to say that I LOVE your blog. Every single post lifts me up, encourages me, and makes me feel a little bit more at home in the world. I think you are definitely meant to be doing this. You have a real gift for shifting a person’s perspective into the positive, and getting them to think about all the cool things that could be. Thank you so much for writing this blog. Very grateful that you were born onto this planet 🙂
Hey Lauren- Thank you for the birthday wish and kind words. I’m very happy that you find so much inspiration in my blog. It makes all the effort worth it when I hear things like this…
You’ve inspired me with your comments! I’m just getting over the flu and finding it difficult to get back in to the blogging groove. Reading your comments have given me the push I needed to get back at it!
Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts…
I FEEL THE EXACT SAME WAY. But I ask an even scarier question: why does anything even exist?
Unanswerable, at least for me…
No doubt, you are most certainly here for a reason that is good and positive, as your desire to inspire…….especially with humor. Happy Birthday!
Thanks! I enjoy writing this blog, and am happy it provides inspiration for some.
Thanks- I’ll take a look at the video now…
Thanks- I’ll take a look at the video now.
Doug, I definitely relate to this, but not long ago I realized that too many people ask “Why?” So, to balance things out, I’ve started to ask “Why not?” Hope your birthday was stellar!
Thanks, it was. Why not is a valid question too…
It has always been my belief, Doug, we teach what we need to learn. In the teaching comes wisdom and self knowledge. This doesn’t mean to say that we need to be a ‘full-time’ teacher; we can always learn as we earn….. 😉
I agree. It’s like the mirror principle- what we see in others that bothers us is what we most need to work on with ourselves.
Agree, agree, agree… 🙂
Reblogged this on Unexpressed Thoughts Exposed .
Hi Doug
Did I read you have 5 cats? As you have a philosophical outlook have you checked out my catblog?( Poebus the philosophical cat)
I’ll check your blog out cat…