The issue of purpose

I was unable to sleep last night, after my nightly ritual of phone conversations, facebook chats, yahoo IMs, etc I still couldnt sleep, so my mind began to wander, i started to think about purposes and reasons for existence. Am I in this world for a specific reason? or an I here as an entity just to occupy space? Do I have some specific role to preform to make this world a better place? or Am I here to be affected by others will and decisions without making any contribution whatsoever?

I thought about the kind of people that are remembered throughout time, even after they leave this world. George Washington, Adolf Hitler, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Ghandi, Idi-Amin, Alexander Graham Bell, Martin Luther King, Neil Armstrong, and so on. These are people whose names whose names will always remain indelible in the pages of history. They, at one time or the other, were regular human beings. They led regular lives, before being called to greatness or villiany. All these people were leaders of some sort or breed.

The concept of transformational leadership came to mind. I thought about how leaders are made. Are people just born with the gene of leadership naturally embedded within their genomes, or do they acquire the skill at some point in their lives? Personally I believe leaders are made and not born. Leadership is some sort of quality that grows (or sprouts) like a seed depending on what the situation calls for.

Did these people have some kind of role to play in the universe? Did the effectively play that role? How did the world change because of their existence? George Washington laid the groundwork for a great nation, Adolf Hitler typified the description for institutional evil, Abraham Lincoln defines great leadership, Ghandi led a people toward freedom, so did King, and Alexander Graham Bell made that last phone call I made last night possible. See, these people are remembered...

I want to be a person that is remembered. Not necessarily famous, but remembered. The secret to that lies in unlocking my purpose of existence, I believe. Many a person passes through this world without being noticed. They conform to the social norms laid down before them. They live a life, but they do not live the life that will be talked about and written about for centuries to come.

I value my life so much, I have enough value for it to let it slip into the abyss of the forgotten. I have a personal philosophy to put as many smiles on peoples faces as possible, and if impossible, take as many frowns away as I can. But is that enough? I asked myself last night....I may not find the answer to that question, but I am prepared to give all I can to life, do all the good that my physical and mental essence permits, and hope that I am judged fairly in the light of history.

Then I thought about the feasibility of 'nerve' replacement surgery for anxiety patients (lol)...and sleep came, greatly missed, but always welcome.