The Four Areas of Existence | The Probabilist . com

The Four Areas of Existence November 27, 2006

Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Consciousness, Goals, Society, Personal Growth, Philosophy, Purpose, Beliefs, Vision, Work, Abilities , trackback

Why do you exist and what are you doing with your life? It’s not a question we ask ourselves very often, but it’s still one of the most important ones to not only ask, but also to find an answer to. The concept I’m delving into in this article is widely known, perceived from many angles and has many names to identify the four parts that it consist of. It is the concept of living congruently with the four areas of your purpose in order to optimize the meaning of your life. This article is an introduction to this concept and its applicability will follow later on.

Your existence is divided into body, mind, heart and soul. This is one way to look at the concept. Another one is to think in terms of needs, abilities, desires and purpose. You can also summarize it into four questions: What must you do, can you do, want to do and should you do? It doesn’t matter what your perspective is or how you want to structure the concept since we’re still talking about the same issue. Following I’ll go into details about each of these four areas of existence, what roles they play and how prevalent they are in people’s lives in today’s society.

It’s natural to start from the body, the needs you have or the question of what you must do in your life because 100 % of the population focuses on this area of existence. The differences from person to person is to what degree you focus on it. It deals with all your primary needs like physiological needs (food, sleep, comfort & health), the need to be secure and the need for social interaction with others. It also signifies the need for money, as it is a medium for acquiring nourishment, clothing and dwelling.

The second most important area of existence for most people is what they are capable of doing. It addresses your skills and the ability to learn new skills and its source is and capacity depends on your mind. There’s a logical reason why the mind is seen as the next area to focus on. It’s because the career and the line of work you choose for life most often depends on what you notice yourself to be exceptionally good at. Additionally it creates the money that gives you the materialistic things that take care of your physiological needs as well as a social environment for the need of communicating with others.

Following is what you really want to do in life. You don’t have to associate this area of existence with your heart if you don’t sense that it is located there. Nevertheless, it’s a question of innate desires and passion towards something you’re doing. This is an area of existence that is acknowledged more likely in a minority than a majority of the world population. It addresses what you dream of and would love to do with your life. Its presence will boost your confidence, achievements and self-esteem to entice positive emotional sensations.

Lastly, there’s the question of what you should do with your life. What is the purpose behind your existence and what is your spirit or soul telling you that you’re supposed to do? Undeniably, this area of existence is least addressed and pondered about as it is also the toughest to identify and find an answer to. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a question of spirituality or connecting with a higher self or higher being. It’s more a question of reaching a balance between service to others and service to yourself, what kind of an impact you’re making to the world and what kind of a legacy you are leaving behind you when your life as you know it ends.

At this point I strongly suggest that you take some time to start writing down notes on each of these four areas of your existence. Based on the information in this article I’m sure you’ll have a fairly accurate idea of where to place all the things you do in life today. As follow ups to this article I’ll be going into details on how to combine these four areas with each other and how to structure and organize them in a productive and hierarchical manner.