Why am I here is a question that has intrigued philosophers since the dawn of time?  In essence, the answer to this question can provide us with motivation.

That is, the reason for being, why we were created or for which we exist can guide our purpose.  Without this understanding or at least we need something we can accept as a reasonable explanation, if not the real answer, otherwise one wonders what to do.

Retire and Die

Lack of purpose can translate into sadness, depression and even reduce our will to live.   Retirement can be a classic example of this where many studies have shown retirees who do not replace their work with some other regular and demanding activities, just expire.

Succinctly put, the studies showed for retirees without a clear reason to live (ie, some purpose) they don’t.  These studies focused on people who had at least one accepted personal “purpose” that being working at something.

After becoming retired this purpose disappeared and if not replaced the results were, well deadly.

What Purpose?

Working, especially if you don’t enjoy it or embrace it, might not satisfy your personal need for purpose.  For many it relates to what we have determined is the answer to the mysterious, what is life all about question.

For some work is accepted as a significant answer to that question and as studies have shown, in those cases we need to figure out an alternative.

For me,  my raison d’etre, is attaining maximum pleasure. This can be work or some other activity (reading a book, configuring technology) but my life long search for maximum pleasure will not be impeded by retirement.