What’s more than just surviving?

**13th August 2025 – 10:43 PM**

What is more than just living day by day? What’s more than mere existence?

Since starting school and continuing until now, I have often asked myself: What was I born for? Even more importantly, why was I born? Was it by choice, by design, or by accident that a sperm and an egg, two fortunate friends, came together to create me? This question lingers in my mind daily, even though I have a job. I find it boring to go to work from 8 AM to 5 PM for five days a week. I return home to spend the next 12 hours before repeating the cycle. I often tell my colleagues, “It’s boring to come to work every day.” Yet beneath this routine lies a deeper inquiry about the meaning of it all.

While I derive some pleasure from serving others and contributing to the socio-economic development of my country, I still yearn for greater fulfillment. I want to understand what I am truly capable of and what I was meant to do. As I read the Bible and various books, I find many ideas suggesting that each of us is uniquely created with untapped talents and potentials that, if fully realized, could transform our identities and the way we see ourselves.

I look around and see countless problems needing solutions and questions seeking answers. Sometimes, we blame external factors, like governments, but what if we turned our gaze inward to find those solutions? Jesus himself raised this question, as recorded in one of the Gospels: Is life more than mere sustenance?

“23 Life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds?
25 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his span of life?
26 If you aren’t able to do such a small thing, why worry about the rest?
27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
28 If God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?
29 And do not seek what you are to eat and drink, nor be worried.
30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them.
31 Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.” (Luke 12:23-31)

If we surveyed people about what motivates them to go to work, about 90 percent would likely say, “to survive” or “to make ends meet.” This aligns with Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Sometimes we focus on these basic needs that they shadow us from flying high like an eagle to get a better glimpse of what’s there for us beyond just surviving and making ends meet.

Only a select few manage to surpass their self-esteem needs, and those who reach the fifth level—self-actualization—often do extraordinary things that challenge societal norms and contribute positively to the world. Even Solomon, the wisest man in the Bible, expressed in Ecclesiastes that life is meaningless. He had riches, wealth, had a thousand wives, and whatever he set his heart on, he has it. Yet, in the end, he sighed on his deathbed, declaring life ultimately is meaningless, isn’t it? He concluded, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Myles Munroe wrote several books on understanding and realizing one’s potential and making the best use of one’s abilities and talents for the betterment of the world. Despite all this reading and many other philosophical books I have in my library, I still ponder: What more can I do? Beyond going to work, starting a business, writing a book, serving in the church, or mentoring students academically, what potential lies within me that has yet to be utilized?

I believe life is a complex puzzle to be solved—not in an instant, but through education, work, connections, networking, and mentoring. Over time, I hope to reach the realization that, as the Apostle Paul wrote in one of his epistles to his mentee, Timothy, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I am satisfied.” ( 2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Until then, perhaps life itself presents a perplexing array of paradoxes and intricate puzzles waiting to be unlocked. As we navigate this enigmatic journey, I leave you with these thought-provoking questions: What is life to me? Am I merely surviving, or am I truly living the life I find satisfaction in?

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