Life's Journey

“Stop and stare, I think I’m moving but I don’t know where” (oneRepublic). We wonder through life aimlessly trying to figure out what we are supposed to do here. Is there some purpose some sort of assignment we have to fulfill with our time here on earth.  Some find there calling in humanitarian work and feel that is their mission in life; to help others that are less fortunate than themselves. For some finding out what that mission or assignment is, is harder said than done. It is always so frustrating when you here people talking about how they discovered what their mission in life is. They are always so excited and eager and at the end of it they always say, ‘it just feels right, like this is what I am supposed to be doing.’ Maybe I’m just bitter because I haven’t had that moment.  

In the novel Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee, the main character Jasmine struggles to discover what her mission and assignment is in life. This is evident in chapter nine of the novel. Jasmine talks about what she felt her fathers mission in life was.  It seems so odd that she would do this. How would she know what her fathers mission in life is. She concludes that “perhaps my father’s assignment was to be just that: my father.” (p 59) She goes on to say that maybe his mission was to die before she could be married off which would in turn allow her to fall in love Prakash.  It seems funny that she would spend her time sitting and thinking what her fathers mission was and even what her mission is. I think she should be out living her life and possibly along the way her “mission” will reveal itself to her.

Jasmine even goes on to hypothesize what her assignment in life is. She figures her assignment was to bring enlightenment to Taylor. Taylor didn’t appreciate this comment, figuring she thought he was a “narrow-minded American bigot” (p 60).  But that is not what Jasmine meant at all. When Jasmine say enlightenment she means being able to see “through the third eye and sensing designs in history’s muddles” (p 60).

It was hard for Jasmine to explain to Taylor how everyone has a certain mission and assignment in life and that it could be big or small. When most of us think of a mission or assignment we assume that it has to be some big important thing but that isn’t how Jasmine explains it.  She explains that “a whole life’s mission might be to move a flowerpot from one table to another” (p 60).  This seems absurd. It just seems so meaningless. There has to be more than just that. Taylor also agrees and feels that it is “Total fatalism. Where’s the incentive to do anything?” (p 61) I agree. I just feel that to have something be your life mission it would have to be more important than just moving a pot of flowers.

“When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.” (W. Clement Stone) We all wonder what our mission is in life. But maybe our mission in life is just to live. To take each day for what it is and live it to the fullest. And maybe we don’t just have one defining assignment but rather a small assignment to accomplish everyday.