I saw the post on social that presented an observation supported by research that the people who lived the longest were the people with no purpose – people with “life purpose” died of stress-related illnesses in their 60s and 70s.

This all started with an observation by an 87-year-old Okinawan fisherman who noted that the aimless souls he saw lived to 100 because they just fished, gardened, and gossiped; they didn’t want anything.

Didn’t chase legacy. Didn’t care about making a mark. Just drifted.

And now someone’s twisting that into a gospel: “Purpose kills. Chill your way to immortality.”

Hard pass.

I’m not here to poke fun at a simple life. I respect routine. I respect the desire to create something iconic. But let’s not pretend that floating through the day – no vision, no mission, no meaning – somehow makes you enlightened. That’s not wisdom. That’s atrophy of the soul.

You’ll Die Either Way – Pick Your Poison

I am not going to sugarcoat it; life will kill you no matter what you do. My dad used to say, “You better smile and have fun because nobody is getting out of here alive.”

The only choice you get is how you live while the clock is running. Stress is the part of the price you pay for building something that matters.

Legacy isn’t about ego. It’s about contribution. The “aimless” may live longer, but they’re spectators in a world that needs players. I’ll take fewer years in the arena over a century on the bench.

I don’t want 103 years of wandering peace. I need 65-70 years to burn with intensity. With a challenge. With dragons to slay and mountains to climb.

I’ll trade “still walking at 102” for “died at 67 standing for something.”

Presence vs. Purpose is a False Dichotomy

The post claims purpose robs you of presence.

Bullshit.

Purpose is what gives presence its weight. You don’t become more present by removing meaning. You become more present when your actions align with a bigger picture, when you know why you’re in the room, not just that you’re breathing in it.

And this isn’t some weird support of hustle culture. This is about impact. Purpose is not some social media buzzword.

It’s knowing what hill you’re willing to die on.

Aimlessness is Not Freedom

Is the idea that waking up with no direction somehow sacred?

Even Kwai-Chang Caine from Kung Fu wandered the earth helping people. He wandered the earth with purpose.

Not chasing anything is not a virtue – regardless of what the post claims.

Humans were not born to drift. We were not born just to be “present.”

I was born to create. To test myself. To move the needle. To get bloodied and bruised on the way to something worth bleeding for.

Die Empty, Not Safe

The goal isn’t to die safe. The goal is to die empty. Purpose drains you – in the best way possible. It burns you down to your essence. And when the lights go out, you don’t leave a half-lived shell behind. You leave a crater. You leave a story.

The “peace” of the aimless?

That’s a long, quiet fade into irrelevance.

The chaos of the purposeful? That’s a fireball exit from a life entirely spent.

I know which one I’m choosing.