Burning Beneath

For as long as I can remember, I believed I had to find a purpose—some grand reason for existing. I thought life was about chasing that one thing I was meant to do, something that would define my existence. And so, I searched. I questioned. I obsessed. What is my purpose? Why am I here? But the deeper I searched, the more lost I became. The answers I found felt hollow, unsatisfying, unrealistic.

Because if life were truly about just one singular purpose, wouldn’t that mean I’d only ever be doing that one thing? But the truth is, I don’t just exist to achieve some grand mission. I breathe. I eat. I drink. I laugh. I touch. I smile. I cry. I walk. I listen. I experience moments of joy and moments of pain. I connect with others, make friends, lose them, fall in love, break apart, build again. I work to earn, to survive, to care for the people I love. Life is not just one thing—it’s everything.

And strangely enough, the answer that finally made sense to me didn’t come from philosophy books or deep existential debates. It came from an animated movie—Soul. It laid it out so clearly: There is no singular purpose. No hidden mission you were meant to decode. If anyone tells you otherwise, they’ve been misleading you.

You exist because you do. Because it’s your time. Because this is your life. And the purpose? It’s not something you chase. It’s something you live.

It’s in the way you wake up in the morning, the feeling of warm water in the shower, the simple act of brushing your teeth. It’s in walking outside, in feeling the ache in your bones as you grow older. Every single moment, every breath, every sensation—that is the purpose.

Life isn’t about finding some grand reason to exist. It’s about existing, fully and completely.