That one concept

I have been searching a long time for one concept. The question that lays the foundation for my philosophical journey is "Why do I live?" This may seem pointless or impossible to answer, but I believe the answer is in their somewhere. I have tried on some words like happiness, joy, goodness, peace, etc. Each one kind of does it, but none of them have satisfied me.

However, I still know there is an answer. There is something that inspires me to live. There is something that gives value to my life and makes some outcomes worse and some better. There is a lifestyle, or a perspective, that is what I'm searching for.

But, why do you live? What makes it worth it? What, in each and every day, inspires you to try while simultaneously being the thing you are trying to achieve. I'm not saying that what you are inspired to do is this thing. Many times we miss when we think we know where to go. The point is that their is something to miss. There is something there. Still though, I am without a definition. Without a word. Just a knowing, a sort of irrational perception of the most important truth the universe has for us to know. Yet it seems impossible to know. No human has every articulated what this is. And I don't think any can.

In "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" that thing is called Quality. I like that word. It doesn't have too many associations like happiness where you see a smiling face and think life is about smiling. It doesn't lead us into a dualistic right and wrong worldview as quickly as goodness does. Quality. Each person can perceive this, and yet no two will perceive exactly the same. If this thing were removed from us. If nothing had more quality than another, then we would be without reason to live. Without quality, there is nothing to disappoint and nothing to excite. There is no where to go and no where to live. We would be trees, merely growing as we grow and swaying as we sway. We are not that however. There is something in our knowledge of the world deeper. It makes the world true and every truth we ascertain comes to us through this.

I hope to be getting closer. But I also hope others can see this. Quality, goodness, that reason for living is something each person ought seek. If we all seek truly, we may get past all the things in our life we call quality or good and therefore misapprehend value in our lives. There is some variable, not cars, not money, not number of friends, not physical attraction, and not momentary bliss, that must be monitored in an effort to illuminate our progress through the world. It has been found, it is being found, and the world depends on it continuing to be found.