A few weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, I was standing on my own waiting to meet a friend when I was approached by two men wearing suits and a ‘Jesus Loves Us’ badge. They began to ask me what I think the point of life is. Now as you might expect I was a little thrown by this question not just because I had been out the night before, so was a tad worse for wear, but it is a pretty tough question to answer when you’re put on the spot. In all honesty I felt pressured and so just replied that in my opinion the point of life is “to have fun.” They then asked me if I’d like to join them to learn more about the purpose of life which is not an offer I am used to and as delightful as it sounded I politely declined so I could get on with having such a blast.
I’ve been recently thinking about this question though, and without getting too deep, I’d like to share a few thoughts. So, what is the purpose of life? We have a childhood, we grow up, we become educated, find a job, meet a partner, settle down, have kids and grow old. This is the purpose of life which is drummed into us at such an early stage in our lives. I’m not some sort of rebel that goes against this; it seems a perfectly reasonable way to spend our years on this planet however there is just so much pressure! My response to the Jesus Loves Us men was to have fun which is very true but there is also this over hanging weight on our shoulders that we must find someone to have a family with and do all the lovey dovey stuff. I’m aware that I may sound like a bitter woman with too much time on her hands to moan about relationships but I do have a point to make.
As little girls we watched Disney films with happy endings, played with Barbie who always had Ken by her plastic side and even made perfect little houses out of Lego for them yellow figures with bowl haircuts. Yes, it’s very lovely and sweet but this is the message which is carried with us our whole lives; we have to find a Ken, live in a nice little house and have a happy ending. This is the purpose of life that is forced onto us by the media and pretty much the society we live in.
So to comply and be normal we end up doing stupid things to get what we think we want and need. We go on a quest to find ‘the one’. I know it sounds pathetic but this is what we’re all looking out for; the elusive ‘one’. Apparently I’m meant to ‘just know’ when I meet this incredible, amazing person who will change my life and make everything hunky-dory. Smashing! I can’t wait, it sounds brilliant.
But until then I’m now, metaphorically, sitting and watching the un-wanted ‘ones’ pass by on a conveyor belt just like the Generation Game until the star prize finally comes along. On this conveyor belt we have the guy that definitely is not good for you, the guy that is unbelievably attractive but is equally unbelievably boring, the guy that everybody likes because he is a ‘lad’, the guy that is far too sensitive and talks about too much poetry and the guy that you always seem to make an idiot of yourself in front of (there isn’t just one of these types of guy in my case). You get the idea, these men who are not well suited to us are zipping their way along until they find their own happiness. So here we are still sitting, unsuccessfully, on our metaphorical seat watching the Generation Game pass by but it’s not all bad, there’s a chance of winning a cuddly toy! Although when the quest does come to a bit of a heartbreaking end we get told not to worry ‘there’s plenty more fish in the sea’, ‘there’s a lid for every pot’ and ‘whats for you won’t pass you by’. We are advised to eat chocolate, watch Bridget Jones on DVD, have a girly night out and shop till you drop to feel fabulous! (Eat so much you feel sick, weep at empowering films, get so drunk that you text the guy you’re not supposed to and buy too much so you’re broke) Us girls sure know how to dish out the advice.
Is this our purpose in life? I have no idea but although we go through all these different emotions from excitement, feeling nervous and giddy to being angry, disappointed and a little crushed it’s all just part of the Generation Game. Even though I slightly disagree with the way we feel pressured to live our lives a certain way, it is what the majority of us go through and it’s not going to change any time soon so I go back to my original answer to the Jesus Loves Us men; I believe that the purpose of life is to have as much fun as possible even if there are a few bumps along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment