what gives meaning to your life? why are you here?

Question

Do you feel small when you look out into the stars? how do you integrate this great unknown into the everyday run of the mill survival? does it inspire you or scare you? AND what is great about YOU that you fear to reveal and why?

Answer 1

"What is the meaning of life?" is a question many people ask themselves at some point during their lives. Some people believe that the meaning of life is one or more of the following:

Survival and temporal success

* ...to accumulate wealth and increase social status
* ...to compete or co-operate with others
* ...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance
* ...to die having succeeded in your purpose
* ...to live
* ...to protect one's family
* ...to gain and exercise power
* ...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
* ...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction or asexual reproduction
* ...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially
* ...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate
* ...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means (see life extension)

Wisdom and knowledge

* ...to be without question, or to keep asking questions
* ...to explore, to expand beyond our frontiers
* ...to learn from one's own and others' mistakes
* ...to seek truth, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom
* ...to try to discover and understand the meaning of life
* ...to expand one's perception of the world

Ethical

* ...to express compassion
* ...to live in peace with each other, and in harmony with our natural environment (see utopia)
* ...to give and receive love
* ...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
* ...to serve others, or do good deeds
* ...to work for justice and democracy

Religious, spiritual and esoteric

* ...to turn fear into joy at a constant rate achieving on literal and metaphorical levels: immortality, enlightenment and atonement
* ...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context
* ...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace
* ...to become God, or God-like
* ...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. God)
* ...to follow the "Golden Rule"
* ...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity)
* ...to reach Heaven in the afterlife
* ...to understand and follow the "Word of God"
* ...to worship, serve, or achieve union with God

Other

* ...to advance natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race
* ...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future human
* ...to contribute to collective meaning ("we" or "us") without having individual meaning ("I" or "me")
* ...to die, or become a martyr
* ...to find a purpose, a "reason" for living that hopefully raises the quality of one's experience of life, or even life in general
* ...to live, and enjoy the passage of time
* ...to have fun
* ...to protect humanity, or more generally the environment
* ...to pursue a dream, vision, or destiny
* ...to relate, connect, or achieve unity with others
* ...to seek and find beauty
* ...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose)
* ...to participate in the chain events which has led from the creation of the universe until its possible end (either freely chosen or determined, this is a subject widely debated amongst philosophers)
* ...still some do not even think there is any purpose whatsoever (see nihilism)
* ...(This is actually an extension of the point immediately above) There is no inherent meaning to life, existence, the universe, etc. They exist because they can. However, humans appear to inately give meaning, usually many, often conflicting, to what they are conscious of. So, to each individual, the "meaning of life" is whatever they decide it is. In that sense, every point above is potentially valid.

Answer 2

These are very good questions of which I don't have an answer to. (WHAT!!! WHO TYPED THAT AND WHERE DID THEY COME FROM!) lol

Seriously, this is the quest I am on currently. I know one thing for sure and that is I am not going to let anyone else define these for me. I have to admit I am somewhat embarrassed at the fact that I am *cough *cough years old and have no idea why I am here or what my talents are. I seem to have lost myself in the human race. I want to be a healer and I have a strong desire to be of an inspiration to others and help contribute to the overall good of humanity. I also know these actions start with myself.

I feel that we are all connected in some way or another and as soon as I find some synchronicity, I expect I will know. I admire people who know who they are with certainty and where they are going, what they are suppose to be doing. I haven't become aware of those things yet, but I learn something new almost daily about who I am, or should I say, who I am becoming. It's a hard path to follow and a lot of times a lonely one. I don't follow a traditional religious practice but I have invested in spiritual endeavors. My biggest fear is passing on and not knowing anymore than I know at this point, and having to come back and start from here again, or even worse find out that this is all there is and then we die, end of story, although somehow that idea just doesn't settle within me. To have created such beauty all around and inhabited the earth with people, animals and trees etc for nothing, with no purpose in mind seems wasteful, even for me and I'm not even a God. Besides, when i'm really into finding my path, (sometimes I take a break, lol) there are too many things that happen that some would say are only coincidence, but I know differently. It is nice to listen to what others find out about themselves and how they did it, it can be very insightful.

Answer 3

God is awesome and His ways of making the world so great with some stars way up is to great for me. The number of people in this world are uncountable all throught out the ages and he choosed to care about little me and to keep me in His program.
I Thank God every time I wake up that He kept me keep going. My heart I can't make it keep pumping and my mind and the thoughts I try to keep them clean. It inspires me and frightens me at the same time and it is exciting to see how it is all going to end one day and yet when it is over and I am dead it is not over even then. How Great God Is We will all get to see him one day.]
This is the idea of the great unknown and all the questions I would have where I want to know who, what, when, where and
why and I get to hear his voice tell me the answer to all my questions about life. This makes me want to run the mills and survive and got to go through the fear because the excitement of life. I just look up to the stars wish I could look past the stars and wave a hello or send up a flair for help at times. YES I am small but he is so big working all things at the same time. HE IS GOD
I Tell You HE JUST IS

Answer 4

Try to be a little more coherent the next time you ask questions. Why are you asking them?

The questions you asked are all fairly easy to work through as long as you don't let others do your thinking for you.

The self, your self, is what determines the meaning of your life. You are here because you are not somewhere else. Don't feel small or large. Don't bother integrating it. Why should I? Doesn't inspire or scare me. Don't fear revealing anything, but respect good taste, decency, and social customs.

Answer 5

There are so many things that give meaning to my life, but the top things are God, my children, my husband, and the rest of my family. I think I could lose everything else but these things and still be very happy with my life. They are my everything.

I do feel small sometimes when I look at the world around me, but it kind of gives me hope instead of frightening me. I take comfort in knowing that I don't have to be in control of everything--every detail--in my life.

I think the great thing about me is that I have an unbelievably good imagination. I guess I don't like to reveal it because people think it is immature or strange. But I love to pretend with my kids, and it is also useful when you are having a bad day, are bored, or need new ideas for the bedroom!

Answer 6

Meaning to my life: my jobs; my kids; my cats; my friends.

Yes, I feel small looking into the stars, but fascinated and awestruck, too.

Inspired and scared at the same time.

Not sure if I'm afraid to reveal anything that is so great about me.

Let me say, 'tho, that I think your questions are wonderful...so different and deeper than the average question on here.

If I could give you points for a best question, I'd do it!!!

Answer 7

I have not idea why I'm here but I plan to make the most of it. I readily accept that there in an infinite source that is much bigger than I am. It inspires me to try to avoid small-minded matters in life. It scares me in that I think mankind is always afraid of the unknown more than the known. I'm not great. Not at all.

Answer 8

It really isn't that difficult. Whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, a Hindu, or anything, the answer is the same. You have a soul, and everything you do in your life affects your soul. Your soul is the product of everything you do, every word you speak, and even every thought that enters your mind. They all affect your soul. (So guard you mind.)

So you are here to nurture your soul. Your soul is nurtured by; seeking knowledge, truth, wisdom; by practicing love, real self-sacrificing love; and, by relishing everything you find beautiful in the world. There is a purpose for beauty, and the enlightened soul leaves something beautiful everyday.

That is all you need to know, that is all there is to know.

Answer 9

My purpose on earth is to irritate as many people as possible. I've had a few near death experiences and the grim reaper obviously has no use for me. I am virtually fearless, there is nothing to fear but fear itself.
I possess the greatest gift of all- LIFE.
One of my greatest attributes is the ability to perceive and interpret the intent and motive of others with incredible accuracy- A GIFT.

Answer 10

spirituality gives meaning to my life...i feel that ones true duty in life is to leave the world a better place than you found it.i want to write children's metaphysical storybooks , i think that in order to change the world , we must begin with the children , teach them of their divinity before they begin the material pursuit. i am afraid to tell people that i want nothing else from life than to save the world , and i am afraid to tell people that all is one , here and now , that we are all one. i find that people don't want to know these things , and have developed a fear of sharing my views..that's whats nice about this yahoo answers thing..

Answer 11

I don't feel scared, I feel relieved because I am part of the stars. I am not an alien in the universe, I am the universe