I happened to visit the Dalai Grandma the other day and found she had a great quote for me:
Howard Thurman
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
Here’s another nice quote from Wikipedia:
…community cannot feed for long on itself; it can only flourish where always the boundaries are giving way to the coming of others from beyond them — unknown and undiscovered brothers.
Wake Up and Laugh! 
I read this same quote a few weeks ago and it sort of puzzled me, it sounded selfish and the opposite of what I thought the way should be.
Seeing you post it now made me look at it again in a different light and see the true meaning behind it.
I’ve often wondered about this point, as well.
And now it seems that this “coming alive” in and of oneself actually encompasses all beings. How could it not?
Nice post, Sunim. Thank you.
Love it! Do what makes your heart sing and dance…
“what makes you come alive” – is too ambiguous. Amy Winehouse did what made her feel alive…
Well, she did say “what makes you come alive” and not “what makes you FEEL” alive
Fortunately your example is a very clear cut case where no moral value needs to be attributed to distinguish between “makes” and “makes feel”…
I think you need to learn to be in touch with how you really feel. Drinking abd drugs don’t actually make you feel alive most of the time. Awareness, and compassion, is always vital. Given that, yes, following what makes you happy sounds like a great way to live!
Excellent point. A very able way to reject the hypocrisy of self-denial that too often is the stuff of morality. Bravo