Answer To My Riddle: The Seven Lettered Word

It's been quite a long while since I posted an article on something like this. You have to believe me, it is worth the little time you are giving to read this article. Without further ado, I recently sent a riddle to certain individuals and surprisingly only few texted me in return to give an answer to the riddle, while some got the answer after several attempts, others got it at first attempt and some are yet to get  the answer. This then made me think, what exactly have we been thinking nowadays? No hard feelings guys,  I feel this is a riddle you don't even have to read till finish before you should be able to decipher it. It is the essence of living. You are confused now right?  Okay, I'll give the riddle again,  let's see if you can provide an answer.  Here it is:

My five senses told me thirty two and five times that I was losing myself gradually, 

Too many echoes in my head that I couldn't  hear even me,

My heart was stiff and torn between a wishy-washy,

Thousands of questions, yet less than one tenth of answers,

I see others living my dream,

I envy, covet and desire.

I was about to admit that life isn't meant for me,

Then my shadow appeared,

It sobbed silently but wept loudly 

I felt the epileptic fits in its voice as it spoke, it said;

"'I am here but you chose to walk in someone's shadows. You have failed to accept that life is a race, being able to finish is all that matters. You have to create your own space and run at your own pace. You have to learn to be original of you not fake of someone else. You have to discover one thing'', It then paused.

I asked quietly what that is, It stared at me and wrote the letters 'P' for first and 'E' for last on the wall, then it disappeared,

I was dumbstruck, what is that one thing I haven't discovered? 

I realised it didn't directly give me the answer so that I wouldn't tell you, 

Everyone has to discover it themselves, 

But it left a hint, "Life is meaningless without understanding what the seven lettered word means".

That's it! 

Thumbs-up if you got the answer at first attempt.

You are probably wondering, what sort of lengthy riddle is this?! Oh yes, my friend, life doesn't give short riddles. Life itself is a riddle, a riddle you have to provide answers to every day, every hour, every minute and every second. Do you silently wish you were more pretty? You ask, why am I so short? Why am I so tall? You sometimes  hate yourself for having a body part which you dislike so much?  You wish a part of you were bigger or smaller? You ask yourself, why am I light skinned? Why am I dark skinned? You hate your complexion so much?   You envy that friend of yours when she/he walks by. You ask, why can't I just be her/him? You hate being born on that particular day?  You ask why you were born into that family because you just cannot be free like your friends. You see them party, you see them live lavishly but you just can't.  You envy, covet and desire. Are you trying to find answers to why you weren't born with a silver spoon? Are you wondering why your friends make better grades despite you burn the midnight candle? If we keep going on like this, you will see that we will actually have asked thousands of questions, yet will have gotten less than one tenth of answers. But seriously, you haven't asked yourself the most important question, this question makes or mar you. Have you provided answers to why you exist? Have you tried to solve the riddle on your purpose in life? Yes! That's the answer to the riddle, it is purpose, the "P" for first and "E" for last. And, it is seven lettered! So,  enough with trying to solve the riddle, let's give a meaning to the riddle. Take a deep breath and ask yourself this question,  why do you exist?  What is your purpose in life?  Are you finding it difficult to provide answers. Oh yes, I bet you are. 

While you are still trying to find answers to your purpose for life. I will give a brief analysis to the lengthy riddle.

The first paragraph reveals that a certain individual is in confused state, wondering why his life is not the way he wanted, more like the famous poem, "The Fence" by Lenrie Peters. He sits on a fence and is uncertain about which side of the fence he should cross to. Away from the poem, the riddle tells us the individual is asking so many questions, yet can only provide few answers to the questions. It tells us he envy those that live his dream life.

The second paragraph explains that the individual is about to give up on life when he fell into  a trance. Something appeared to him, he realized what appeared to him is the exact copy of himself but this time as a shadow. Let's say, he saw himself speaking to "himself". Crazy right? The figure  told him he has abandoned him (the figure) to chase after irrelevant things. He has failed to realize that he ought to give a meaning to his own life and avoid putting on shoes that are not meant for him. He has to accept that life is a race, a different kind of race, here being first doesn't matter, what matters is that he finishes  the race. Of course, he is not expected to run at the same pace as others, they might get there before him but he just can't give up now, he has to be consistent till finish, he  has to finish the race. And only one thing can help him finish the race. You know what that right, it's purpose? 

The third paragraph seem to give an answer to the riddle, the riddle is meant to be answered by everyone, you have to discover what purpose is yourself, it's  not something someone has to help you discover. 

Purpose is the reason why you exist, you were created to achieve a purpose on earth and without  you discovering that purpose, then what are you living for? I guess, to be happy and enjoy the wealth of this world. Purpose is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. You have to come to terms that you were put on this earth to achieve your greatest self, to live out your purpose, and to do it courageously.

Someone once said, "The cities, the roads, the countryside, the people I meet - they all begin to blur. I tell myself I am searching for something. But more and more, it feels like I am wandering, waiting for something to happen to me, something that will change everything, something that my whole life has been leading up to."

You will only keep asking questions and searching here and there but won't get replies when you don't have a sense of purpose, you will covet and desire yet you won't get that which you so much long for. You can only finish a race when you have a sense of purpose. When you know that there is a prize for finishing the race not minding you were last.

Have you seen this quote:

"The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step, keep with the problem, or determined to carry our their dream."

It pains me, many people go back to the dust without discovering their purpose, not that they weren't created with one, not that they didn't have dreams of what they wanted, but they failed to realize their purpose and never strongly pushed to make sure they made their mark. Every individual was created with something unique and until you find that sense of purpose, until you deem it fit to achieve your dream, you might just be leaving in a fool's paradise thinking life has nothing to offer. 

Purpose is the meaning of existence, look around you, look at the heavenly bodies, look at the trees, the sea, the birds, all creeping things  and look at nature. They were created for man, that's their purpose and each day they never fail to satisfy the needs of man, though the evils of man sometimes make them reciprocate. If these things can achieve purpose, how much more you and me. Man is meant to subdue the earth,  but owing to  man's failure to have a sense of purpose, the earth is indeed subduing man. Without   a sense of purpose, you chase after the winds, you want the all good things of life which are indeed good, you want to achieve your desire by hook or by crook. Good things are good, don't get me wrong, but instead of desiring too many good things, give good things, it might be a piece of advice, it might be that little thing you don't need anymore, it might be a little financial assistance, name it. In Okoli Gerald Philip's book, "Strategies To Becoming A Peak Performer", he stated;

"The high rate of failures that exists today is often because people try to seat in positions that has not been destined for them. Venture into business that is not their calling. Everybody now lives in somebody. 

You have been created to become no one else. Neither have you been created to live the life of another person. You have been created to be YOU. Your personality instincts have its own special content that will drive you to do what you have been called to do. Doing what you have a special ability to do gives you the opportunity to become what you have been created to become."

You have to know that purpose resides existence and that no man willfully knows the purpose that he has been called to live, but readily doing things that he chooses to find convenience in performance, would help him build a purpose for self.  I can't tell you what your purpose is, it is something you have to find, take a deep breath, think constructively, look within you, speak with your maker. He will surely reveal it to you. You will find it, it is there with you as it as been since the day of your existence, I believe you have been able to patiently read this piece because you want to find purpose. And you will find it. 

I'll end on this note; 

"If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for."