Why?

My son, in his blog, asks "why?"
Why do we get up in the morning? Why do we go to work regardless of whether we want to or not? Why do we bother to live, love, fight, commit, eat, drink, make merry, achieve, struggle - in short put up with the daily travails of life. Why DO we do it?
These thoughts have been more in the forefront of my mind in the recent past.It's not that one sits around thinking deep thoughts. I don't. Generally I am too busy just surviving the battering life hands out to most of us. For a very long time I did it unthinkingly, on auto pilot. I never questioned what I had to do - put one step in front of another to make sure that I could support my family to a minimum standard of comfort. There was no question of trying to "achieve". Of winning awards or becoming a national creative director or a CEO. If I had, well and good. But if not, tough shit! As long as I made enough moolah to keep our body and soul together, I had achieved nirvana! Fortunately for me, I could do this while working in a profession I loved. How many people can say that? And yes, that is what got me out of my bed every morning of every day from the last 40 years. That and the fact that I HAD to earn.
But what is it for the highest of high achievers?
Those who make it to the Forbes list of the 10 richest men on earth. Those who build helipads on their ivory towers? Those who buy jet planes for their wives? Those with a zillion homes on every continent... after all how many homes can you live in at one time, how many cars can you drive and how many clothes can you change into at one time, how much food can we eat at one time?
Is the fighting, deal making, manouvering, jet setting, working 48 hours in 24 worth the effort?
In the final analysis, shouldn't we ask ourselves whether we have made a difference by being on this planet? Whether the money we lavish on planes and boats and vertiginous towers of wealth could perhaps have been used to educate the children who cluster around in the shanties at the base of these towers? Or put food in the mouths of suicidal farmers? WHY is it just the government's responsibility?
I believe there are over a thousand NGOs in India. Imagine what they can do with the 17 crores that goes into the building of ONE helipad for the use of just TWO men - who can't stand the air-conditioned two hour ride from the airport to their homes in South Mumbai.
Why am I asking these questions? Because my uncle died recently. He was a quiet man who lived quietly and died quietly. But through-out his quiet, and in fact almost spartan life, he built a comfortable home, brought up two sons who grew up to appreciate the value of money and hard work and excellence, was a caring and supportive husband, an internationally respected professional in his field, ethical, totally committed and motivated, honest, caring, very knowledgeable, wise and an achiever by any standards. And yes, he made a great difference to many, many people's lives. I guess that's what got him out of bed every morning...
How many of us can say that about ourselves?