Hunter S. Thompson’s Letter on Finding Your Purpose and Living a Meaningful Life

he has not dedicated his life to reaching a pre-defined goal, but he has rather chosen a way of life he KNOWS he will enjoy

look for a way of life

a man who procrastinates in his CHOOSING will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance

So it would seem foolish, would it not, to adjust our lives to the demands of a goal we see from a different angle every day?

In every man, heredity and environment have combined to produce a creature of certain abilities and desires— including a deeply ingrained need to function in such a way that his life will be MEANINGFUL. A man has to BE something; he has to matter.

we must make the goal conform to the individual, rather than make the individual conform to the goal

What is truth to one may be disaster to another. I do not see life through your eyes, nor you through mine.

As I said, to put our faith in tangible goals would seem to be, at best, unwise. So we do not strive to be firemen, we do not strive to be bankers, nor policemen, nor doctors. WE STRIVE TO BE OURSELVES.

But don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean that we can’t BE firemen, bankers, or doctors— but that we must make the goal conform to the individual, ra

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You’ve lived a relatively narrow life, a vertical rather than a horizontal existence.