In taking a closer look at my own life and my purpose here on earth. I have pondered the questions of love, self-actualization, and destiny. By studying World Literature and through class discussion I have gained some insight into these universal questions. It is my opinion that this is why these great works of literature have withstood the hundreds of years of their existence.If we look at Love, it is a void that we are all trying to fill. In the story of Medea, she gives her life to Jason only to be betrayed by him. However, in the Story of The Odyssey, Penelope is true to Odysseus even though he is gone for over twenty years. The two stories correlate by showing the relationship between lust and true love. It also teaches us that love comes with trials but trials that are worth the sacrifice in the search to fill the void. Self-actualization is the need for one to fill their potential in life. In the story of Gilgamesh he searches for the gift of immortality only to be deprived of his search. However by the stories end he comes to understand his true meaning in what the gods had planned for him. I feel the author was sending the message that you need not search for self-actualization. Rather that you should know thyself and self-actualization will find you. In discussing the last topic of destiny it brings to mind Aeneas the central character in The Aeneid. It is a story of a man that is destined to succeed. I feel this holds true in the lives of everyone. We all have the ability to wake up each morning look in the mirror and reinforce our own destinies through positive affirmations. And this is in my opinion what I feel the author was trying to get across.
             Do I now have the answers to love, self-actualization, and destiny? I think not or else I would be a rich man. However I have learned that with every task, trial, or mountain I climb, I learn something new. It may be just that the knowledge gained from an experience is learni...