Have you ever wondered....?

Question

I'm not a depressed or unhappy person, I'm really content with my life. But have you ever wondered just what the point of living is? I mean, we live our lives, but why? What is the reason? Is there a point to going through our lives only to die and be gone forever? I am contemplating this.

Basically, what is the meaning of life? Wow, that was corny.

Answer 1

This evening I left home to drive to my friends house to pick him up and go out to eat. I happened to have left home at just the right moment to drive right into the sunset. The upper sky was dark blue, fading into light blue, then pink which bled into a fiery red. There were little purple clouds moving across the horizon, and I could see Venus shining brightly in the upper right corner of the sky. For just a moment it seemed that I could feel the rotation of the earth and it made me feel so tiny and yet so content at the same time. Because although we are all fated to exist for a short while and then return to the dust from whence we came, we are all given these moments to appreciate the thrill of just being alive. There may be no huge cosmic point, but there are those moments that I would never trade. We all have to live with the knowledge that we are going to die but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't enjoy it while we are here.
You have the ability to chose your own point whenever you feel the need, there are so many possible.

Also, here's a poem that I feel might be relevant:


Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.


Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.


Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.


Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.


You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.


Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.


With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Answer 2

The way you have put this 'most often asked' question giving your precise context, it has given the common question a really extraordinary status.

In my view, we simply live and enjoy our life when we are reasonably happy and peaceful in mind. The big question as to what is the point of it all, comes to our mind the moment we feel that we are living an ordinary life... in other words, when our mind is looking for making a bigger impact with our life.

What would classify as a 'bigger impact life' really depends on the accumulated experience of the person concerned ( I am using 'accumulated experience' here to denote everything our mind has gone through till that time in our life).... this being the case, the meaning to our life needs to be found in our own minds.

However, there is one principle that seems to apply very very widely in the context of 'bigger impact' that we want our life to make.... whatever we do for the good of our own individual self has the least impact... what we do for our family or near and dear people, gets placed higher in the order.... and what we do for others gets the top ranking.... and within this top ranking 'doing for others', what sits right on the top is what 'they' appreciate the most.

In a nutshell, therefore, the meaning of our life appears to be derived from what it means for others.

Answer 3

I think the purpose of life is to give a direction to mankind that you think is the right direction towards finding the truth. End of our lives, all that is going to matter is the message that we are leaving behind to this world and for the generations to come.
The current people in the world are nothing but passing face of humanity. No human in this world will live for more than an average of say, 80 years. The formation of society and rules are an outcome of the purposes of our ancestors lives. Similarly our lives purpose is to add to the collective effort from our ancestors to make the world a better place and eventually finding the truth of our lives.

Answer 4

It is corny, but only because everyone thinks about it all the time in ways.

There is no point, so just enjoy living, but treat everyone else with respect. Feeling is what makes life worth living really. There's also no point spending your life contemplating an impossible question, but it is good to think about it at times; it keeps things in perspective.

Answer 5

Well of course people have been debating and contemplating this question for many many years, and no one has a solid, "correct" answer. The meaning of life depends on yourself and what you make of it, really. Some people think it's to live out God's wishes and to follow the Bible, some think there is no meaning and life is just life, it just is. Since there is most likely not going to be a resolved answer to this question any time soon, you pretty much have to make up the meaning of life yourself, what is most important to you.

Answer 6

For the first question: Yes, I have wondered about it. And also contemplating about it.

For the follow-up details: imo, it is to be known by ourselves in the twilight of our lives. Maybe when we are nearing our graves, then and only then we can look back to our past and hopefully realize what life we had and thereby answer to ourselves that same question you have.

At the moment, just live. That is a logical resolution to the problem at hand.

Answer 7

The point is to spread peace, joy, compassion and love to everyone and everything we can in our lifetimes. Our "point" comes from within. Going through your life living for each moment and causing a positive ripple effect on the world at large defines the meaning of life to me. No one knows what happens after we die. We do know that we have our time here, though. The difference you make in someone else's life is the difference you make in the world for the next generation.

Answer 8

Just take this: What is the reason of life for an apple tree seed? To wake up and to grow into a tree and to bear fruit itself. A tree is useful for so many purposes. It brings shade, nourishment, beauty, oxygen etc.
So I see this also with the meaning of our life. The seed in us is our inner spirit. This spirit is supposed to wake up and grow and bear fruit.
We but only achieve that in acknowledging and feeding our spirit. In letting it grow and not in suppressing it. The language of our spirit is not coming from our brain, but it is this soft inner voice, this deep intuitive perceiving coming from our solar plexus or our heart area streaming upwards from inside out, and the pain we sometimes feel is just the reminder that our spirit cries, as it so urgently wishes to awake and to move in the light of the day. Our ego or our intellectual brainy thoughts has the tendency to disbelieve the spirit and most often cages it in, presses it down like in a tightly bound dark potato bag. We indeed depress or surpress our spirit so often, and hereby also misunderstand its longing.

Answer 9

Other possibilities
We are here to become complete beings. Our eternal nature is a void potentiality. Down here we materialize/actualize, gaining more traits and abilities, and more life.

Life is a school, and all our experiences are the lessons.
And the lessons will repeat over and over until one learns what one is supposed to.
Thus, no matter how negative, learn from absolutely everything.
Everyone is your teacher in life, and likely your student.

Answer 10

We literally came from bacteria, therefore our purpose literally comes from bacteria. We are alive, just as bacteria are alive. Our purpose, like the purpose of all life, is to reproduce. With this mindset the meaning of your life becomes an altruist one, meaning that you lived so that your children can live, so that their children can live. Like bacteria we reproduce and die for the good of the entire species.

My advice is to take comfort in others, because that is why we are in fact here. That is why we criminalize acts that hurt others. That is why prisoners are punished by separating them from any human contact. That is why we feel sad when we are alone.