The Cafe on the Edge of the World: A Story About the Meaning of Life

by John P. Strelecky

“What an odd phrase,” I thought to myself. “Recharge my batteries. Burn out, recharge, burn out, recharge…. How is that moving in a positive direction?”

“Think of it like seeing where the X is on a treasure map. Once you know where the X is, it’s harder to ignore the treasure. It’s harder to not go after it. In this case, once someone knows why they’re here, it’s emotionally and even physically more difficult to not fulfill the reason.”

“Is it that simple?” I asked. “Once someone knows why they’re here, they do whatever they want that fulfills their reason?”

As I said the words, I felt a sense of excitement race through my body. It was like I’d just found something out that was unique and important, and my body was confirming it. It sounded so basic I thought maybe it was too basic to be true. Do whatever you want that fulfills the reason why you’re here.

“Exactly. We’re all limited by our current experiences and knowledge. The important word there is current. More than ever before in human history, we have access to information, people, cultures, and experiences from all over the world.

“As we try to find what will fulfill our PFE, our limits today aren’t really about accessibility. They’re about the limitations we impose on ourselves.”

if you aren’t in tune with what you want to do, you can waste your energy on lots of other things. Then when opportunities come your way for what you do want, you might not have the time or strength to spend on them.”

Why is it we spend so much of our time preparing for when we can do what we want, instead of just doing those things now?”

“You asked why we spend so much time preparing for the life we want to live, instead of just living it. Part of the answer is if we aren’t careful, we buy into the mass of marketing messages we’re exposed to every day. We end up believing the answer to happiness and fulfillment lies in a product or service.”

“‘The challenge,’ he explained, ‘is to realize that something is fulfilling because we determine it’s fulfilling. Not because someone else tells us it is.’”

“You can’t fear not having the chance to do something, if you've already done it, or you're doing it every day,” I said to myself.

I wished I had thought of that sooner. “Still,” I reflected, “it's not enough to know the concept. The point is to actually put it to use.”

Many people make their living and get their power by convincing others that they, or something they make or sell, are the key to fulfillment. Imagine if people came to the realization that we each control our own level of fulfillment.

in life only you truly know what you want from your existence. Don’t ever let things or people drive you to the point where you feel you no longer have control over your own destiny. Be active in choosing your path, or it will be chosen for you. Just move the golf ball.’”

“Paradise had been just a few hours’ plane flight and some dirt roads away, and I didn’t even know it existed. And I realized, not only had it existed for the two-and-a-half years I’d been so busy, but the sun had been setting there, and the waves had been crashing upon that beach, for millions if not billions of years.” He paused for a moment, “As those thoughts washed over me, I felt very small. My problems, the things I’d stressed about, my worries about the future, all seemed completely unimportant. I realized no matter what I did or didn’t do during my life, whether my decisions were right, wrong, or somewhere in the middle, all of this would still be going on long after I was no longer alive.

“So I sat there, faced with the unbelievable beauty and grandeur of nature and the realization that my life was an infinitesimal piece of something much bigger. Then I was struck by the thought, so why am I here? If all the things I thought were so important really aren’t, then what is? What is my purpose for existing? Why am I here?”

“The thing is, John, life is an amazing story. It’s just that sometimes we forget we’re the author, and we can write it however we want.”

Why are you here? Do you fear death? Are you fulfilled?

I learned that finding my Purpose For Existing, or PFE, as Casey called it, required more than just spending a vacation thinking about it, and then returning to everything I’d been doing. Like most things worth knowing, it took some effort to uncover the answer.

I started by dedicating a small amount of time each day to doing things I liked. This was similar to the technique Anne had used. Then I tried to take advantage of the opportunities Casey talked about, and sought chances to learn and try new things. This helped me expand my universe of possible reasons for why I’m here.

When you weigh two choices, and one is living a life that fulfills your Purpose For Existing, and the other is just living, you would think the decision is simple. It isn’t.

For me, the knowledge that “you can’t fear not having the chance to do something if you've already done it, or are doing it every day,” helped me push open that gate. It’s now one of the principles by which I live my life.