Inspired by the song “You Have Made a Difference” by Eric Disero and my saxophone teacher Brian Asselin and the song “Man in the Mirror” By Michael Jackson.

Everyone lives for a purpose – the beggar on the street, the farmer in a secluded corner of China, the man who works on Wall Street…For me, there are three purposes: to live an enjoyable and productive life, to be kind to others, and to make this world a better place.

Life may seem more enjoyable when the person is optimistic, but in truth being optimistic may not be such a good thing. One should not be optimistic or pessimistic. The best choice is to be realistic. Realists do not make the situation better, or worse, only what it is, and they deal with it appropriately. A person who lives an enjoyable life doesn’t constantly hold onto the past, or dream of the future. They live the present. Holding onto the past slows people from moving ahead and can cause unnecessary depression, but dreaming of the future creates an unquenchable greed. Only the present allows people to savour everything along the path and live a well-paced life. If a person can live like this, their life is certainly full of joy.

Along the path of life, I will meet many people. Some of them may be friendly and caring, and it will be a pleasurable experience working with them. Some of them may be less agreeable, but sometimes people have to work with people who they do not like. However, no matter who they are, every single person is fighting as difficult of a battle as I am. Every single person should be treated with equal kindness. The act of kindness may not always buy you a friendship,  but it will always buy you some peace of mind.

At some point it will be my turn to leave. If I just throw everything behind me and move along, then my life would have no meaning to others. I want other people to be able to enjoy their lives.  I want to change someone’s life. Every teacher and every parent has changed at least one child’s life, most of the time in a good way. Every donor has changed someone’s life, no matter how little. Leave something behind. It doesn’t have to be a large pile of music like the one that John Lennon wrote, recorded, and left behind. It doesn’t have to be as famous as the light that Thomas Edison discovered, shared and left for the future generations.  It could be as simple as a legacy, as simple as a quote…because for all you know it could be something that someone else will live for.

This is the kind of life that I want to live. It would mean something not only to me, but to many other people.