That was my experience as well as a public school teacher. That is, I enjoyed working with students, but, the stress eventually compelled me to retire.

Getting back to the topic. I found that parents who spent time reading books to their toddlers helped to ensure success for their kids in school. Literacy experience is critical for children long before they get to school.
A prime purpose for parents is to be actively involved with raising their children.

To be bored. One should always strive to be as bored as possible. It really kicks creativity into gear.
The most awesome things lie behind the passage of boredom, always enter the doorway and keep walking until you arrive at the other end.

(This is an anti brainrot post more than anything tho)

I don't know whether I'd call it the prime purpose, but maybe the prime goal, from the Hippocratic Oath:

clueless_dolt,

I really like that sentiment! I think you're right. Boredom, necessity, and adversity can spark the embers of creativity. Sometimes we need motivation to overcome inertia.

frankbell,

I like your prime goal! That's part of my moral framework. Being kind, gentle, and non-threatening is a good way to be.

While I do grasp how boredom can lead to creativity I truly don't grasdp how that can possibly be some Universal Purpose or goal. I think that depends on many factors. I've always been rather hyper and rarely bored. On the contrary there was never enough hours in a day.

Given this dichotomy, and others, it seems to me "Prime Purpose in Life", besides the most obvious cellular level urge to pass on ones genes, keep the family line thriving, the above board Prime Directive is to discover what you really love. It's entirely individual. The old saying that if "you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life" is a good clue.

I'll go a step deeper and say if you learn how to find good in wide-ranging little things, a bit of appreciation and optimism, you can find something to love in even mundane duties, even just breathing the air, a glass of cold, clear water, a good meal, a great night's sleep.

There's another more comical old saying I've seen somewhere, "We grow too old, too soon and too late smart". I suppose that can translate into "Develop a love of learning".

Plenty out people out there who can't be alone with their thoughts.
If you can, though, aren't you closer to true fulfillment than someone who can't, but still had a 'filled life'?

Lets say you're rich, you got a big family, much property, influence, all that good stuff.
But the thought of not being occupied by something for even ten minutes makes you sweat? Yeah, that's the kinda thing I'm going for...well, almost.
The "walk through the boredom" part is there for a reason, too. So really, I'm arguing for what comes after the boredom, but first, you gotta be able to be bored and fully embrace boredom.

If you're even a little afraid of it, you won't get what it gatekeeps.

Which sure, you might not need in this example of great achievement, but generally speaking? It would do people good.

Stoics believed in living according to Nature, essentially living virtuously, which would include helping others. Christianity has the "Golden rule" also includes helping others. Helping others certainly gives you purpose, but the problem with that is what about people who are very limited in their abilities to help others? The severely disabled for instance? I think having a Meaning in your life--what gives your life meaning--is also a good way to approach your overall outlook on life.

I think that disabled people have the ability to help others. You're selling them short. For example a deaf person can help another deaf person to learn American sign language. A disabled veteran can listen to and give comfort to a newly injured veteran returning from battle. Where there's a will, there's a way. For a very severely disabled person we can never know what their mental life is like. Perhaps they think great thoughts and smile at their caregivers.

As I'm holding to a self-imposed 'no religion' ban: From BSD Fortunes

When I was four years old, I was already reading voraciously, and I've never stopped. There is no television in my house, and there hasn't been one in thirty years. But the rooms are filled with bookshelves. (Any time that I want "video," I simply purchase it, commercial-free, and watch it on my computer at my leisure.) In any hotel room, the TV is never on. (If it's "on when we enter," I find the power button on the remote.)

That's just "how we roll." Don't ask me about "your favorite show," or refer to a commercial, because I have no idea. (Gradually, my relatives got used to that ...)

One of my relatives routinely says I need to watch at least some of the shows and some of the commercial ads so I can hold an intelligent conversation. I just SMH and feel sad for her.

My wife watches a lot of TV. I never do. I watch several streaming services. In my retirement I'm involved in a local volunteer organazition. I like helping disadvantaged people.

Hi,

I do like to watch historical streams and other informative views. I can make my own decisions and do not need social media other than my local park pages that does keep me updated with community activities. I do read a lot on my kindle and mostly historical fiction based westerns. I couldn't bring my library south from Illinois since I do not have enough room in my present home. No real need for my Engineering nor Technical books. I did bring a small number of books.

I do watch my local news and weather since Florida weather is constantly in change day to day.

The Grand Panjandrum by JN Hook 1980 edition has about half a page on happiness. https://books.google.co.uk/books/abo...oC&redir_esc=y

The varieties of Hedonism are listed as -

Egotistic hedonism
Epicurism
Eudaemonism
Universalistic hedonism / Multitudinism

It then describes Energism. "Energists believe that the greatest good lies in using all one's physical and mental faculties efficiently. If one does that, they say, contentment will follow and one will make a satisfying (and incidentally happiness-producing) contribution to hiser (sic) little corner of the universe."

If I had to construct a philosophy of happiness it would likely be a combination of The Golden Rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule and Flow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)

My super-rule is "Stop thinking about yourself".