I first heard this French phrase "raison d'etre" from my boss in a meeting. I guess he was trying to inspire the team and it did trigger me to do some research on this. He had mentioned that LKY used this phrase sometime, but I could not find any source article attributed to him on this.
Nevertheless, it means "Reason or justification for existing". This brings to my mind what is the purpose of my existence. I did reflect upon it for a while and I came up on a few thoughts which are of no particular order in importance:
1) Family - The cornerstone of our social circle otherwise we would be just individuals living in a deserted island with no ties to bind us. They are the source of unconditional love and support... but of course there are also challenging times where we need to work on our relationships with our parents, husbands, and children.
2) Friendships - The second layer of the our social circle where people whom we enjoy the company of. They could be bosom friends or close ones that are able to second guess your thoughts but yet able to offer alternative perspectives on things. Such relationships definitely grow us as better individuals, without losing our own identity.
3) Knowlege and True Wisdom - As this blog is titled....the purpose of our being is to bring about the great knowledge and true wisdom that we as humans have gained through the millenia through sharing and collaborating with each other. Reading of great books, watching first rate films would only serve us better.
4) Passion for one's work - This may seem understandbly difficult to achieve if one is bogged down by the daily grind of routine mundaneness. But if one can achieve this, we would be able to feel the satisfaction that we all serve society in a meaningful way. However, passion for the work should not clash and become a work-life balance issue.
5) Cultural Diversity - perhaps I had put this in because of my love of travelling. In the course of travelling, I had been exposed to various cultures and the same time learn their some of their subtle ways. Every country you visit, it opens a new world of ideas and perspectives on how things can be done. We can only learn through acceptance of such other cultures and make us much better individuals.
So, to put it simple terms, its about valuing and building your relationships, continuous learning and lastly, passion for life and work.
3 comments:
Hello The, i just recalled your message to me yesterday and came in to check out your blog. Well well..good books and movies...very interesting indeed. Hope you can keep up the momentum and post your thoughts on these and more issues. I'll chip in with a comment or two (where i can) so that hopefully the exchange of opinions and ideas can lead us all to "true wisdom". Again...well done!
Just to share with you something that came into my mind when i read this post. Some years ago, i came across an article written by Peter Drucker. He observed that in this competitive age (this reminds me of that poor HP contract staff), one should protect oneself against serious setbacks by cultivating a serious interest outside work with which to measure "success" against or feel a sense of accomplishment with. After working for several years (i.e. seeing work for what it is) and becoming older along the way (i.e. more responsibilities), i find myself agreeing more and more with what he said. Of cause this "serious interest" can be anything and it is by no means the only important ingredient required for our well-being (keyword: holistic). But it's something to think about especially for us entering, dare i say the dreaded words, middle age.
Do you have a serious interest? (taking care of baby don't count..haha =))
journeyman,
hmmn.. this sounds serious to me. But my interest is really what I like to do; read great books that intellectually stimulate my mind.
But whether this can lead anyone to "success", I have no idea. Of course time will tell, and then we shall know the answer.
About your point of "taking care of baby"... lets review this when you become a father yourself... hahaa ;p
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