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New York City asked people "What is the Meaning of Life?"

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What is the Meaning of Life (NY Street Interviews)

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One of our favorite hillsong ❤

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What A Beautiful Name - Hillsong Worship

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During our past lessons and current lessons we are always reminded about our purpose in life and that is to go back home and to go back to God. Just like a daily routine, waking up and preparing to go to school, study a lot of learnings and then go back home.

Before I take Theology or even enroll in UST, I thought my purpose in life is what would I want to become in the future and that is to be financially stable and have a well family, I'm thinking that my purpose is just to finish college and support my family, I didn't even thought about going back to God because honestly I am so afraid to die, leaving my loved ones but then again we all need to go home to have an everlasting life.

I perceived my purpose positively right after we have the lessons in this course, it enlightened me about it and as of now I'm not afraid to die because I know that I will be with our Father and nothing bad could happen because He loves us wholeheartedly, without any doubt I would choose to go home if the right time comes.

People find it hard to answer because I think they are not trying to find it. They are just waiting for something but if they seek and ask God about it, Then God would give them the opportunity to know it. For example, when I am not currently enrolled in UST, my purpose is just personals but after taking and still currently taking Theology subject I learned my purpose. I was so down before the 1st day of class because I am far away from my parents but during the school days I decided to go home everyday rather than staying in a condo. So it's a sign, that our heart would always want to go back home.

I think why people have different understanding about the purpose of life is because of our unique capabilities and they tend to focus more on their careers rather than their spiritual life. For example, I'm a varsity swimmer during high school, so for me, my purpose is to win every match and bring home the trophy but as soon as I learned about going back to God, that became my ultimate purpose in life. I would relate my desire happiness with my purpose by following what God's will is. Whatever it may be, as long as I'm obeying His commandments and love one another and love Him, then my desire for happiness would be satisfied.

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A hard question that will make you ask "What should I do with my life?" to have an idea what's really my purpose in my life

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A hard question that will make you ask "What should I do with my life?" to have an idea what's really my purpose in my life

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What is the purpose of life?
After all the classes I've took in our Theology 1 subject, I am now aware that every person's purpose in life is to go back to God since we are from God. It is hard to define and elaborate to make all people agree with it, but once you understand and believe in it, you will clearly accept that we are from God and will go back to Him. But going back home is not that simple and easy. It is an obligation that we must find our own reason to get up in the morning like worship God, to be happy and make people happy for God. And for me, that is the most MEANINGFUL and SATISFYING WORK that everyone will do in their whole life. Like for example, I take care my baby brother well, I try my best to make my mom proud, I make sure we had bonding as a solid family, I make my friends laugh whenever they're happy or sad, I help my classmates during down times and I help strangers because I want them to be happy. I also treasure them. It's like we bring Glory to God by loving everyone in Christ because God is love ❤

Before I take this course, what do I think is my purpose in life? and How do I perceive my purpose now? Why some people find it difficult to answer such question?
Well, before, I'm just like others who looks to our purpose in life as living in a busy life in this world. For me, it's just the reality of how things go. For example, before, my purpose in life was to make my life better, make my mama proud, meet a perfect guy, have a wedding, have a family, be happy, and that's it. And also I think my purpose was to do good things to others in order for me to be ready whenever my life will end and make sure I'll go to heaven, not in hell. Like seriously? Who would want to go in hell? So basically, before, I think we are just like animals that live out a lifespan and die, then go to heaven or to hell. I never thought that all of us were created with the same purpose.
Now, after knowing that our purpose is to go back to God, I realized that my purpose before was just my dreams in life that can be achieved or taken away from me. That's why currently, I am trying my best to attend mass every Sunday in order to know God more, follow His ways and obey His rules while accomplishing my worldly goals (education, job, family, be financially stable). I think I became more mature now and started to appreciate even those simple things I see because I know in my heart there's God.

I think it's hard to answer because maybe some people like me were not really aware of their real purpose of being here. Before, I was not so serious and interested to know about it. I was just going with the material world's flow. And because of so many bad things that are happening in this material surface, finding my real purpose becomes more difficult to know. I became confused on what I really want to do with my life, so in this case, I don't have any idea what to do. What I only know is I will just live my life. But still it's like "I can't find what I'm looking for."

So all I can say is, I am thankful to have an opportunity to have a Theology subject.

Why do we have different understanding about the purpose of life?
Our purpose is to go back to God but I am pretty sure that everyone of us perceive this differently. Some looks at it as to be happy, or to be useful, or to be the very best. But why? Maybe each one of us grew differently. We grew with different people around us. We have different aspects in life. Some are religious and some are not. The outcomes of living different types of life may be meaningless or purpose-driven life.

How would you relate your desire for happiness with your purpose?
Aristotle said Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life. Then, happiness is about finding your purpose. Staying on top of the world is far easier when you truly understand the reasons for your happiness. Finding what you truly love, what makes you unquestionable happy. And I think that's God, doing things for Him, to go back to Him, is our single purpose in life.

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Before, I don’t really have an idea what is exactly my purpose in life, all I do know is to live life, finish studies, have a decent job and give back to my family; basically, we all have different purpose in life. But now after I study Theology, it made me into a realization that our main purpose is to go back home, to go back to God. Before, when thinking about the idea of it, I would say that I don’t want to, that I want a longer life. At present, when I scrutinize it, it is not the idea of dying that I feared of, but the thought of not doing my best, making myself proud while living and not living life wisely that God has given me. This subject has taught me to be closer to God with a stronger faith in Him, have a meaningful life and deepen my understanding how to perceive my purpose. This purpose is to go back to Him in His timing and everything happens for a reason, live life according to His will, to have bounteous blessings in life.

Undeniably, at first it is really difficult to answer this question because maybe we don’t have a strong bind and faith with God that we don’t have a certain explanation about it. We tend to focus on ourselves that we have so many desire that we wanted to fulfill, we want to stand out and we can’t think of a specific answer because of the raging thoughts in our minds. Primarily, we have different understanding about our purpose in life because we all have different passion, and God has given us detailed plan for each of us. Either way, we outlook ourselves in the future and not focusing at the present, live life now, trust God and slowly understand what is really our purpose. One thing is important that we should be happy living our life, because with God everything is possible and our life will not be dull and empty. I would relate my desire for happiness with my purpose by simply living life with God and accepting what is really His plan for me. Trust Him all through this journey and we might be surprise on what will be going to happen next.

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What is the purpose of life?
For n times our teacher have reiterated our purpose in life, in every meeting she always sees to it that she’s able to remind us about it. That purpose which has been embedded in my mind already is to go back home, to God.

2.2. BEFORE you take this course, what do you think is your purpose in life? At times I also felt the same way as other people on the video stating they didn’t really seem to have think about that specific purpose they have in life or just really don’t know about it. But when I have somehow realized something I cannot describe, I have thought the same way as that one man in the same way in the video as stating that sometimes he thinks that his purpose is like this and sometimes a different one because I have felt that before as well, being in difficult situation I’d think about my purpose in life if the struggle was just a form of a challenge for me, and I'd think that my purpose in life was to be the strength of the people around me who aren't as strong as me and be the person whom my family and friends can lean unto. Then there goes my happy times but I’d still see people struggling and I’d come up yet again with a new idea of my other purpose or might as well my main purpose in life, like thinking that someday I'd have more than enough money then I'll use every coin relevantly in sharing and helping others.  But I was really struck the most with what that one man in the video has said, that our purpose is “very fluid” because it seems to have connection to what I’ve said before that I have thought about my purpose in life thousands of times before and I wouldn’t get the same exact one.

How do you perceive your purpose now?
I perceive my purpose now not depending it on myself nor depending it on other things here on earth, it’s about God anymore. Just like what we have tackled in our class we should not live our lives selfishly and we must always think about God all the time.

Why do you think some people find it difficult to answer such question?
Often times some people just have the habit and thinking that they should live their life with a motto “go with the flow” that thinking about the real purpose of their lives is something that is not the focus of their thinking already. Moreover there are many things people encounter in their lives that they get confuse and struggle with their real purpose. Sometimes I think it could also be because of doubts always running inside their head like thinking if they could really find and fulfill their purpose in life because it is not only due to lack of confidence in themselves but sometimes strength in trust with their faith.

3. Why do we have different understanding about the purpose of life?
I think that our views would really vary from one another. I’ll put it this way that we are currently having a roadtrip, we all came from the same places and that is from God, and we as well all have the same destination, that is Home with God, which is our sole purpose. However, alongside with our trip is not our differences in the choices we have chosen in our journeys, our some have taken a left turn, right turn, stops, traffic, etc., we differ as well on the circumstances we have faced during our trip,  basically I think it is that experiences along with our journey that has affected our understanding in the view of our purpose in life.

How would you relate your desire for happiness with your purpose?
Honestly I have never felt that feeling of fulfillment in my life yet. I always look for something that I could make myself say “I’m happy” but never contented. I realized that the root cause for my unending desire for searching for happiness is because the things I do and get in this world will never be enough to complete me because they are all just temporary things. Like when I buy something I would benefit from, I'd be happy because I got what I want but in exchange of that I became broke for the whole week, so there's a pay off for my temporary happiness. Also, if I get to eat in a buffet then I'd get satisfied for the whole day for eating so much but then I'd have no money to pay for my food the next day, still another temporary moment of happiness.

Our main purpose which is to go back to God reminds me of a quote I often see "God never said it would be easy, He just promised it would be worth it" then in Him I rest my complete satisfaction. I could say that fulfilling our main purpose will be the only reason for me to say that I am completely happy and not unless I have already fulfilled that then my unending search or desire for happiness will still be left untamed. Because doing so is not only a temporary one but for eternity and God would not ask for an exchange, He just needs us to fulfill our purpose and be with Him.

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What is the purpose of your life?

Throughout all the lessons that I have learned in my theology class, the most memorable lesson that I have learned is that the purpose of our life is to go back home, and that home is God the almighty father himself.

Before you take this course, what do you think is the purpose of your life?

When I was a kid, I used to think that the purpose of my life is to follow and heed the words of my parents. I used to think that I must constantly obey the teachings and things that they have said to me. When I started to grow up, I also used to think that the purpose of my life is to help others, by sharing with them with what I have, in exchange for what they lack. That was what I believed in before taking up this course wherein I learned that the one true purpose of my life is to go back home, which is to return to God.

How do you perceive your purpose now?

I can say that I can perceive my purpose now by saying yes to God’s will, and not pushing the things that are not bound to happen in my life. It is because, I came to realize that saying yes to God’s will means saying yes to ourselves as well, and that is why I also believe in the saying that “everything happens for a reason”. Sometimes, I may think regrets that I should’ve and shouldn’t have done throughout the course of my life. Therefore, I perceive that my purpose now is to leave everything in God’s hands because I believe that he is the only being that knows what is best for me.

Why do you think some people find it difficult to answer such question?

I think that the reason why people find it difficult to answer the question what is the purpose of their life, is that because people tend to forget to feel God’s presence in their lives. Since we people can’t see God’s presence through our naked eyes, we people tend to doubt about what is the purpose of our lives. I think that the thought that would come across the minds of the people is that “the purpose of our lives is to return back to a home that we can’t see and we aren’t sure if it actually exists”.

3. Why do we have different understanding about the purpose of life?

I think that the reason why people have different understandings about their purpose in life is because throughout their life, they come across different stages of life. For example, from a teenager’s point of view their purpose in life is to score high in their classes and graduate from their education. From an adult parent’s point of view, the purpose of their life is to provide their children the basic needs such as food, shelter, and etc. I think that people don’t know what is the meaning of their purpose in life.

How would you relate your desire for happiness with your purpose?

I came to realize that my desire for happiness knows no bounds, this is because when I have been given something which I have wanted, I will tend to want more and more other things so that I would think that I would  become more happy. Although, I don’t really know on how different are the scales of my happiness when I become happy from time to time, I can say that the purpose of my life which is to return back to God, is something which I can’t currently imagine as long as my soul is living in this physical world.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff6FHGHNcWw