"1. We are evolved creatures, not designed creatures. If we were designed with some life purpose in mind, we would need to know what that purpose was so that we could live in alignment with it. But the universe provides us with no answers. We are obliged to decide for ourselves not only what our life purposes are but also what we take the phrase life purpose to mean.
"2. There are no life purposes to seek (as if we were sheep who had lost our way). Instead of seeking, we must decide. We must decide whether the phrase even interests us, and, if it does, what it means and implies. To repeat, life purpose is not a given — it's a decision.
"3. If you don't decide to have life purposes, you will not have them. You may stay very busy, you may experience pleasure and acquire things, but none of that is the same as having life purpose.
"4. The following is one way to construe life purpose: a life purpose is a decision to honor something as more important than something else. It is a decision to represent yourself in a certain way because representing yourself in that way makes you feel proud of your efforts. It is a decision to value something, to stand for something, to get something out of life, to give something to life."
