WHY AM I HERE?
I’m alive. I’m breathing. I have a body that can move and function well. I have thoughts. I feel emotions, both good and bad. I make decisions which impact not just my own destiny but also the lives of other living beings. I have free will. After millions of years of evolution I, Lewy Finnegan, was born into this world at this exact moment in time. Born on a planet that’s full of beauty, opportunity and other living beings, just like me. Living in an infinite universe full of countless other planets, stars, galaxies and God knows what else.
But WHY? Why is there something instead of nothing?
There's definitely not one universal answer to the question, but here's one way i like to answer it...
Growing up my life revolved around bodyboarding for many years without much thought or effort flowing towards any other ideas. ‘I’m on this planet to be a pro bodyboarder and that’s the only reason I’m alive’, would have been my answer to this question when I was 15 years old. As the years ticked on I began to ponder this question more, but I just felt lost and confused about the meaning of life the more I thought about it, so I kinda pushed it aside and continued on my quest to be a pro bodyboarder.
I slowly but surely became a pro bodyboarder. It felt and still feels amazing to have attained something that I put so much effort into, but I soon realised that there's a deeper meaning to being here. Then I started practising Yoga, after breaking my back, and the answers i'd always subconsciously been looking for came to me.
In the stillness and silence of Yoga and meditation you can find yourself in a deep state of contemplation, without any input from the ego or family and friends, and it was in this state that I realised what I want in life.
Happiness. As much of it as possible. For me, for my friends and family and for all the living things on this planet. Bodyboarding makes me happy, Yoga makes me happy, being present makes me happy, pushing my personal limits makes me happy, breathing slowly and deeply makes me happy. Above all though, Making someone happy makes me happy.
Different things make you happy, but we all want to BE happy. And the best thing about happiness is that it's contagious. It spreads like wildfire. By creating happiness in someone else’s life it also creates more if it within your own, and once this is realised it feels like life has much more meaning.
To experience true happiness there must first be an absence of pain. It's hard to feel happy when your body is in a lot of pain and it's even harder when you're emotionally hurt. This quest of ridding pain from our bodies and minds is where a lot of people don't bother to push through because it takes a lot of effort and maintenance, especially when one endures many injuries or emotional scarring, but I can assure you it's a goal worth striving for. Yoga and meditation is the best practise i’ve learned to work on this but I think any mindfulness practises will improve the vigour and liveliness of body and mind.
Once pain is reduced to a minimum, happiness is increased to its maximum! After about 2 years of practising Yoga I felt like i’d finally ridded myself of emotional and physical pain and felt an energy take hold of me that motivated me to help others achieve the same. My website is one of my ideas to help the world be a happier place. If i can help to reduce pain in just a few peoples lives then this site is a success. It’s then up to these people to spread the happiness that’s grown from the absence of pain in their own lives.
So one of the ways I like to believe as the reason for being alive is to experience and share as much happiness as I can with every living being I come into contact with. At times it feels impossible and at other times it happens without any effort, but i’ll always feel better within myself for lifting people up rather than pulling them down.
“The seeds of kindness that you plant today, will one day bloom in the hearts of all that you touch.”