Marian Wright Edelman's old interview talks about the real purpose of living in a materialistic world

One of the biggest questions in life is its overall purpose. Humans strive to make their life as meaningful as possible. For many that is the primary objective of their life. Blake Burge has been attempting to find ways in which he can inspire people to live their best form of life. In doing so he came across an interview by Marian Wright Edelman. She is an activist known for her work regarding civil and children's rights. The part of the interview that caught his attention was Edelman's answer to how she would instruct her children to find meaning in a world that has become increasingly materialistic.

In Blake's opinion, Edelman's answer still rings true in today's times. The first message that she wants to communicate to her children is that she loves them and no matter what they do, that love will never get reduced. She then assured them that wherever they might find themselves, they will never be alone. Her love will always accompany them. Her next message is directed at teaching her children the real meaning behind life. She tells them that even though the culture's dominant message is that life should be spent in pursuit of fame and prestige, that is not the ultimate truth.

Finally, she reiterated to her children that the most important thing in life is caring for others. Their life will not be successful if they are famous, on the contrary, it will be successful if they manage to leave the earth in a better position than they found it initially. If individuals have more intellect in comparison to other people then it is a moral responsibility to help the latter because of the superior position. The line that touched Edelman's heart the most was "Serving is the rent that everybody pays for living".

Blake agreed with every sentiment of Edelman's answer. In his Twitter post, he continued that if humans are not attempting to make the world a better place, then their existence would not have much value. Similar to Edelman, Blake also believes that it is a privilege to be of help to others in the world. In order to put the point across, Blake quoted Bob Marley, "The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires but in his integrity and in his ability to affect those around him positively."

At the end of the post, Blake asked his readers to ask themselves one question- "What gifts have you been given?" He then goes on to suggest that after understanding these gifts it must be used to lift people around them and utilize it in inculcating improvement in individuals. The comment section was in agreement with Edelman and Blake.

@ABorderLife agreed with all the assertions and wrote, "I love this. It's everything. Frances Hesselbein, who reenergized the Girl Scouts, said "to serve is to live," and it's so true. It's where real joy comes from- as well as being the rent we pay." @jbryanporter also put in his own two cents and wrote, "Things, fame and prestige promise what they can’t deliver, satisfaction. Marian is so right. Our culture constantly tries to convince us we need things we don’t have. Great reminder Blake."