I admire Jonathan Livingston Seagull for his bravery not only in finding a higher purpose in life but also in facing all sorts of ridicule and being singled out from his fellow seagulls—with head up high. He wasn’t even sorry for the price he had paid for daring to go beyond the boundaries because he lived a fine life—a life he unselfishly once wanted for his flock.

Our existence is because of a purpose—a purpose that we have to fulfill and even surpass if we can. Before, our ancestors thought of survival as our primary purpose, like the lower life forms, but as time passed by, people are able to find greater purpose in life. Other than survival, we learned how to mingle with others and establish good relationship with them. We are able to make innovations to make our life easier.

I remember a couple of lines from a poem, “There is value in all rarity, therefore I’m valuable.” Our value lies not only on what others can do for us but also, on what we can do for others. What we can do for others is endless. We can be of service to others in countless ways. Sometimes, we might not notice that we are able to inspire others because of something so trivial that we did. It might be small for us but it might mean a whole lot more to others.

Doing something noble or completely unselfish will give us a different kind of joy that no amount of money can equal to. We won’t even find it hard to stand up for what we are doing, even if it meant being in the receiving end of ridicule and laughter. That, for me, is the time when we found that higher purpose of our life. No pretenses, nothing superficial—just plain human nature.

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