When Apes evolved into Humans, evolution took a big leap forward. No longer would things be the same as they were before humans appeared. Because we humans were different. The animals before us were easily satisfied. They only needed food for energy to survive, fight, and reproduce. Shelter to be safe from harsh weather and predators. Oxygen to breathe.
Of course, we humans needed all that our forerunners needed too. We needed food, shelter, and to reproduce. We even had to fight with fellow humans for the same. Our needs were only a little different from that of the apes.
But not for long…
Just when our basic needs were met, we wanted more. When we were wanderers, the challenge was just to meet our physiological needs. We had to constantly fight for survival and food. Then when we settled down, there was more safety and security. No one then had to live on the watch out for wild animals every night. There was less fear.
Photo by Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash
After settling down, when the basic security was established, humans did not have to think about safety like before. But the next need sprouted. Humans had to grow further. They had to grow towards being social then. Humans had to be socially well established to make trades, to find loving partner(s), and be acknowledged well in his/her family and society.
These stages of needs so far could still be a struggle for a lot of us even today. But on average, our race has found the way to get these basic needs met. We have created a brilliant system that will help us sustain at this level of safety on the whole.
We have reached the level of comfort that no other animal could even dream of! But this comfort comes at a cost.
What next??
We do not have a clear problem to solve next. Earlier, keeping safe from predators and finding comfort were our immediate needs. Solving those day-to-day problems gave us a sense of purpose in life. But now, the direction of growth is not as clear as it was Before.
Because… If one thing is clear from this flashback of ourselves, it is the fact that we keep growing. There is an innate quest in us to keep expanding and growing and to feel a sense of usefulness and purpose. We lose that purpose without having an immediate problem to solve.
When we do not have an immediate compelling problem to solve, we don’t have a clear direction to grow. When that happened, we started questioning our own Life’s purpose. We even began to feel lost.
We are depressed not because we have problems. But because we do not have purposeful problems to solve and in turn, we do not feel useful solving them
”We have a crisis of meaning in our life” — Mark Manson
We began asking ourselves:
WHY ARE WE HERE?
WHAT IS LIFE ABOUT?
WHAT IS EVEN THE PURPOSE OF MY LIFE?
ARE WE ALONE IN THIS INFINITE VASTNESS OF THE UNIVERSE?
And man! Isn’t it scary and crushing to not know the answers to these questions?
But this fear is the fuel for our growth as well…
Think about it –
No wanderer ever had the luxury or even the time to think about what his purpose in life could be! If you could travel in time and ask him what his life’s purpose was, he would shoo you away saying he was busy saving his own group’s lives and the only next goal of him would have been to find food for his bunch!
The biggest of problems that an Ape ever had to solve were just about survival and reproduction.
But it is not so for us. So now, our purpose itself is to find the ultimate problem to solve.
And the ultimate problem to solve? It is to find the means to become the best versions of ourselves.
And the ultimate problem to solve is to find the means to become the best versions of ourselves. Because all our basic needs are already met.
This is why the Self-help industry is booming like never before!
This is why we need philosophy now more than ever before!
We are struggling. That struggle is a sign of our evolution. We are evolving!
The struggle is a sign of evolution!
We are evolving…
Each time we grow, each time we decide to grow, we come closer to the best version of ourselves.
So, What is the end of this?
What could the best version of you look like?
Wait. I am not going to answer this of course! This question is bigger than you or me. That is why it is worth the pursue as well.
But some foreseers have meditated upon this question and have figured out the ultimate goal and the means to arrive at it.
And according to them, any individual can take up the path and realize the highest potential within. This particular knowledge/path that the foreseers have shared with us is timeless! And there is a way for anybody alive to attain the goal. (Let’s explore more of it in the upcoming blogs)
The part of you that wants to grow, to expand, is just really seeking to reach THIS ultimate goal.
And every time that quest arises in you to find out the unknown, to realize the ultimate truth; How could you call it anything other than DIVINITY within you??
The Quest within you to grow, to expand, is the Divine within you!
And this thirst is within each one of us!
The first step in this journey might be to just acknowledge and trust that thirst within and seek a direction/guidance to quench it.
And if we humans as a bunch learn to tap that highest potential within us, what could the world look like?
What would we evolve into as a species?
What would the upgraded Human race 2.0 look like?
What are your thoughts? Comment below!
