Why

In order to find motivation in our lives, we must have a why. We each must find this why before we can get to determining the how, the when, or the where of any goal. The why is what drives us. The why is the purpose we feel behind every action that we take. When we dedicate ourselves, our precious time, and our limited energy to a task, we must have a passionate reason for doing so.  We must have cause, see the light at the end goal, and be sure to never forget its promise throughout all of the hard work we endure on our journeys. We must reference back to our why every time our work feels meaningless.  We must remember our true purpose for working so hard - joy in life - with each difficult task we complete. We are not meant to simply be computers doing calculations or memorizing theories and regurgitating them without meaning. We work and study not because that is our true purpose as souls but because these challenges lead us to greener pastures. Education, especially strenuous higher education, can be the precious key that unlock the door to a life filled with magic and excitement. If we can realize this, we can find meaning in all of our studies and efforts along the way.  

The why cannot be superficial, however, else it will not sustain.  If the why is material possessions or a number in a bank account, it will extinguish the purpose flame too fast. For we could sit all alone in an empty home on the holidays surrounded by material possessions and hard earned capital, but no pure, meaningful love. Love, family, and joy must be the foundation of our purposes. For love is the essence of life, and any motivation built upon it is sure to sustain the tests of hardships and time. 

If we can find this why - what truly motivates us and makes us happy - and never lose sight of this motivation when we feel overwhelmed on our journeys to greener pastures, we will find that work that once seemed fruitless and meaningless becomes part of a grander whole.  We will see that it is all connected; each night spent studying instead of going to a party, each hour devoted to truly reading in depth, each time we trekked across a college campus for office hours when we would really have rather been elsewhere. It all matters. Each action we take counts.  And if we can never lose sight of why we are working so hard, we can better recognize our actions as individual, meaningful brush strokes that will come together to make the wonderful painting that will be our dream lives.  In the end, the artwork will have been painted just as we have envisioned it - because we did the work.  

Indeed, happiness may not be a destination but a journey, so the more we can enjoy the story as its being written without needing to know if the ending will be a certain way, the more at peace we shall ultimately be.  In reflecting upon our lives, we should strive to feel that we worked with vigor and meaning towards our end goals in sight - ones that were rooted in love, happiness, and a relentless desire for life's meaningful experiences.