What Is The Meaning Of Life?
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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the meaning of life and the impermanent nature of it all. Observing how we do what we do, the struggles we put ourselves through, the drama, the pain and the suffering.
While thoughts about life, death and
drift in and out of my consciousness on a regular basis, the seed of this post was planted, when
sent me a link to “” by Derek Miller.
I was just getting on a flight when I opened
on my phone, and by the time I had finished reading it, tears were streaming down. I spent the rest of that flight, and weekend reflecting on the meaning of life.
“What is the point of life, when we come to the end?” I wondered.
I mean, when I look around, I see a lot of struggling—in my own life and in the lives of others. It seems like, even though there’s an abundance of goodness in our lives, the prevalent theme seems to be this struggle to find balance, peace and happiness.
“What is the meaning of it all? What is the purpose of life?” I asked silently in the privacy of my thoughts.
I pondered this as I sat uncomfortably in the middle seat, squished between my husband on my right—who was napping in the aisle seat—and an annoying guy to my left—who was playing a distracting driving game, in which his iPad was used as the steering wheel, causing him to move wildly about his seat.
I looked away towards the empty space along the aisle to my right, so that my distracting neighbor was no longer in my peripheral. I reflected on my own experiences—particularly my own “blind”
towards a more promising tomorrow.
Personal Reflections
“All this chasing for what?” I asked myself.
I race and I chase, all so that I can make , have more success, be more attractive, and hopefully be
in some distant future when I’ve hit some superficial and randomly selected target.
But will that day ever arrive? You and I both know how this game goes: the wanting and happiness will always (unless we intervene) appear to be just a reach away, in “some day” land, when we’ve finished this project or have reached that goal.
We stride through life as if we will live forever. We treat
as a cheap commodity that we blindly waste. We become consumed by . We hide behind victim stories.
We get stuck in
that we dislike. We distract ourselves with the noise of media and other people’s opinions. We compete over beauty, status and owning . We buy into the empty promises of cosmetics and luxury products—all of which are illusions fabricated by marketers.
Unable to , we hold on to the
and we blame people, things, and circumstances for our unhappiness. We surround ourselves with , stress and . Failing to recognize that these “dis-eases” and uncomfortable emotions are our soul’s way of saying, “Wake up! It’s time for a change, baby. This isn’t working.”
We give up our , our art, our purpose, and trade our lives in exchange for
so that we can make a living. While making money to sustain our needs is inevitable, in the making of a living we sometimes forget our unique gifts, we temporarily lose touch with the enormity of our inner being, and we distance ourselves from the confidence of our unique expressions.
In a race to survive, we become mentally paralyzed—like a dove whose wings have been clipped and soon forgets that she can fly.
It’s all so exhausting.
There’s no end to the madness of .
So many of us rush though life in this way, oblivious to the preciousness of whom we are and unaware of the beauty, wealth, abundance, love & opportunities that surrounds us.
And before we know it, the sands of our hourglass run out, and we face the end of our brief existence on this planet—unfulfilled and
for all that we’ve missed.
I know this may sound harsh, and it is. Viewing how we live in its blunt, naked candor can feel rough around the edges. Truth stings. At the same time, we can use this emotionally charged observation to our advantage—to inspire us and to move us such that we begin to live differently.
is a gift for us. He reminds us of the impermanency of our human existence, and the preciousness of the time we have as living, breathing, creative beings.
It’s time to restructure (at least for me and my family) our lives. It’s time to restructure how we live, how we prioritize, how we contribute, and how we can live more fully in the precious moments we are blessed with.
Just now, as I type this,
came home after having taken our son to the park so that I could write this post. He opened my office door, and said, “Go see mama.”
(18 months old) ran into my office with a smile so big that I was instantly love struck. The love my little boy radiated filled up the room.
Little Ryan charged into my arms at full speed. His little legs wrapped around my waist. His little hands draped around my neck. We hugged. I picked him up and said, “Oh, I love you booboo. Thank you for the hug.”
In that moment, I understood…
Perhaps, the only thing that matters is love.
Perhaps, all the chasing we do is just misdirected energy.
Perhaps, all the stress is unnecessary.
Perhaps, we are making life a lot more complicated than it needs to be.
Perhaps, it’s possible (and necessary) to forgive and to let go of our painful past.
Perhaps, there’s an easier route to happiness—by focusing on doing good work, contributing value to society, sharing joyful experiences with people we like, and remembering to slow down to .
The Meaning of Life
So what is the meaning of life? What is the ?
I don’t think any single answer can be ubiquitously shared and be applicable for everyone. So I’ll answer for myself, from my current state of understanding.
I think the meaning of life is what ever meaning we give it—and we can literally give it any meaning that “feels right” to us. There’s a blank canvas in front of you. You are the artist of your life, and you are free to paint any picture that pleases you—and change it at any time for that matter.
What “feels right” to you? What do you want your life to mean? What do you want your life to be about?
I think the purpose of life is to discover what makes you happy, and then go do more of it. The most interesting answer I’ve heard to “What is the purpose of life?” came from my husband. He said:
“The purpose of life is to do what makes you come a live. When you stop, you die.”
For me, the answer is simple: (in addition to my family) learning and sharing about empowering topics—like all the content on his site—is on the top of that list.
So, what makes you come alive?
Parting Words on Life Meaning
I wrote and re-wrote this article over the past 4 weeks–cutting more than half the content down to the essentials. The point of this article can be summarized by the following:
Life is short.
Life is precious.
What are you
about? Go do it. Go make it happen. Go do it despite
and doubt and the opinions of others. Go do it, because it makes you happy. Go do it, because it makes you come alive.
Who are you holding a grudge against? Decide to
them, today, right now. Decide that you will , and decide to tell a . Give yourself permission to be free, because you are.
Where do you want to visit? Start planning for it, even if you don’t yet have the money. Keep moving in that direction, and I promise you that you will find a way.
Who do you ? When you’re with them, give them your full attention. Create the time and space to connect with them. Put love at the top of your list.
In the end, love is all that matters. Love for our selves, for other people, for our work, for all the unique experiences of life.
Life is simple, but we insist on making it complicated. Let’s make it simple again, by focusing on what matters.
–Tina
June 13, 2011 Seattle, USA
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About the author
is a mom, a wife, a lover of Apple products and a CHO (Chief Happiness Officer) for our : Think Simple Now. She is obsessed with encouraging and empowering people to lead conscious and happy lives.
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The point, I would offer, that there is no pre-ordained point to life as decreed by a deity or deities.
So we must create our own meaning, we must create unity, and we must create our own lives, such as they are.
We must evolve from the clever apes we are now who continue clinging to the myth and legend of religion, into our next stage of evolution where our consciousness can expand and help to integrate our species together and work with, not against the planet and its finite resources.
Seems most chances we get to co-operate are derailed by the many tend who to tend to prefer to fight wars, based on, ‘My god being better than your god”.
Your thoughts?
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