“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
Kabir – The couplet
रात गंवाई सोय के, दिवस गंवाया खाय |
हीरा जन्म अमोल सा, कोड़ी बदले जाय ||
 
Transliterated:
Raat gawai soye ke, diwas gawaya khaay  |
Heera janam Anmol saa, koi badale jai ||
 
Translation:
Says Kabir – you spend your nights asleep, your days in pursuit of food |
This life is a precious gift; awake and change – make your life useful ||
 
My understanding:
Our daily life, focused on ourselves, makes daily living seem like a routine drudgery – we do the same things day in and day out but expect various different results and improvements daily. 

So – how do we get something different? By changing – by doing, by being different. Kabir exhorts all to understand and appreciate the priceless gift that human life truly is – and to take advantage of the gift rather than fritter it away on the mundane. Emerson also picks up on this – we want to be happy when we need to be much more. Life is not about me or for me – I am for life – to help, serve, and leave the world a better place every single moment I take a breath.

So try, strive, and be that continuously better human being – every moment of life!