Life purpose takes many years to accomplish - so does enlightenment.
Do I actualize my life purpose after many years - and then pursue enlightenment, or do I make finding my existential true self my first priority and then my life purpose will follow after? Is it even a practical strategy to pursue both? If I was pursuing both at the same time, which of these would take higher precedence - actualizing my life purpose or enlightenment?
In addition to that, my personal life has a lot of holes. I have many flaws and things left unfulfilled. For example: I've never gotten in a relationship, I don't have very many friends.
- My question is: shouldn't I go through the motions of fulfilling and satisfying my material desires - like learning social skills and making friends, improving my self-esteem and confidence, going through and enjoying university life, getting into a relationship, improving my public speaking (my life purpose) and maybe perhaps getting to know the joys of raising a family or traveling in the future - before I ultimately unplug and drop go of all those desires to go out and search for my true existential self?
Which one has a higher importance here - realizing my life purpose/material desires or enlightenment? What is the optimum strategy here if my goal in life is to live the most satisfying and fulfilling life possible - the self-actualized life? I'm very open and willing to listen, and consider every opinion.
I'm 18 years old yet I know that my life is short and I feel like I'm going through a midlife crisis. My apologies for being neurotic and asking a barrage of rapid-fire questions.
