Chance v. Purpose part 1

One of the greatest tragedies in life is the lack of will to follow through your thoughts.
Men are very interesting creatures. We are blessed with the ability to reason, an ability that separates us from the rest of creation or in this case, animals. I doubt if plants posses the capacity to think, though I do not doubt they have the capacity to respond to a voice. If you doubt me, talk to a dedicated farmer. If you talk to enough of them, you will realize that some of them do engage in a peculiar behaviour. Some do talk to their plants in the same manner a lover would talk to his beloved. Always encouraging and affirming them as though they have been caught up in a Utopian state where man and plant understand each other. It is therefore not a wonder when God said let there be and there was. For you see, all creation is tuned to hear the voice of its creator. The prerogative as to whether to obey the voice or not however lies with only one animal.
Back to the subject of thinking and reason. Animals and men alike do think though there has been questions surrounding the applicability of that statement to all men. Thinking simply put, is the ability of a brain to follow through a process from one point to the next logical point. The ability to follow it through to a conclusion, especially a logical and relevant one is a debate for another day.
Thinking however cannot be dealt with without paying attention to a second person called instinct. Instinct is your first reaction in response to a situation. Instinct is interesting because it is not premeditated. No one has to have a plan for instinct. It just happens. The driving force of instinct is survival and self preservation. Like running away from danger or coiling up into a defensive position when anticipating an attack. Instinct pays no attention to thought, it shows no respect to time. Both animals and human beings are instinctive. Animals operate via instinct, usually uncontrolled instinct most of the time and some men fall under suspicion of being in this category too. The difference being that men can suppress their instincts through training over time while animals don't seem to be able to possess such willpower. They are at times able to override instinct and replace it with thought. This control is known as REASON.
Reason is the ability to govern both instinct and thought. The ability to choose which path to follow when looking for the most sensible logical conclusion. Reason is God's gift to man that has enabled man to dominate the planet for millenniums now. I say God's gift because speed lies at the centre of survival. Reason takes away whatever window of time that was opened by the arms of instinct. It is counter-survival. Anything counter survival will lead to only two outcomes: life or death. You can die from not taking advantage of the small window of opportunity or you can live by ignoring the window and building your door. Anyone who has attempted to make passage through a window will assure you that the door is always a more comfortable route. It may take a longer time to create it but once done, you will not desire to use the window again.
Reason has capacitated man with one important strength that lies at the centre of humankind: the need to live, not just survive. Living is an option, survival is a need. There is so much more to life than struggling to remain atop the food chain. Evolution and natural selection has tuned our minds to respond to instinct, it could never teach reason. It could teach thought but not critical analysis. It could teach survival but never living. Living is propelled by purpose, survival is propelled by death. The need to avoid death is the driving force of survival and human beings were made for more than that. Human beings were created to be more than creatures at the top of the food chain.
When do we stop evolving and start living?