What is the meaning of life?

Answer 1

You are actually asking two different questions:

1. What is the purpose of life?
2. What is the meaning of life?

By way of example -- if I hold up an empty water balloon and ask you what it's purpose is, the most basic answer is 'water transportation via aerial mode.' That's all the purpose is -- it is a reason for existing. If it is sitting on a shelf in a store, it has that purpose, if it's in my hand filled and ready to go, it has that purpose.

Meaning, however, is something that is ascribed to an object. I fill such a balloon with water so that I can tag my mother during the next family reunion summer-fun party. That is now its meaning -- joy and playfulness. It did not have that meaning on the store shelf. There, at the store, its meaning was profit -- the owner of the store hoped someone would buy it and thus the owner would make profit off it.

So to go back to your questions -- what is the purpose of life? It has none. To have a purpose means that an intelligent being must have created it. Purpose is an intended direction, a best-suited direction, and life has no creator nor an intended direction. Life is inherantly purposeless.

What is the meaning of life? Because we are self-aware, even in acknowledging the purposelessness of life, we can ascribe a meaning to it. For many people, this meaning is little more than that they hope to live day by day. Some people make religion their meaning, others knowledge, others intentionally make hate or cruelty their meaning -- no one said all meaning has to be good. It just gives us a reason to wake up in the morning and defy our purposelessness.

Answer 2

Each life holds a different meaning. There are about as many answers to this question as there are people searching for their meaning. Just stop looking for the meaning of your life and live your life. Know what I mean?

Answer 3

Each person must figure out the meaning of their life.

If you are having trouble with this I suggest you might consider one of the following:

Charity is most rewarding. Immerse yourself in some charitable undertaking, like joining the peace corps and help people in some 4th world country who eke by on a subsistence level.

Realizing your intellectual potential is also very rewarding. Go to school, study liberal arts and sciences and become educated.

Physical activity is also very rewarding. Set a goal for yourself. Start by climbing a mountain in Colorado. Then go climb Kilimanjaro. Set as your goal eventually climbing Mt Everest. You will find this also fills your life with meaning.

Answer 4

I was going to say 42 ( the answer in the comedy book 'The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy) but somebody has beaten me!!!
Anyway in answer to your question. God created man to look after his creation (the world) & be a companion of God. So dispite the first sin, by Adam God still wants us to share his Creation with him, which is the real meaning of Life.

Answer 5

God created us to know him, love him and be happy with him in the next life. How do we go about doing that?

When God made us, he implanted within us a burning desire for his will. Knowing his will and following it will give meaning to our life. This implies that it is our responsibility to give meaning to our life. Our task then is to find out his will for us.

God's plan for our lives is etched in our desires. To discover God's plan we need to have a personal relationship with him. But because he gave us free will, he will not tell us to be a doctor, an engineer or priest. That's up to us. That means we have to pray and reflect on it a bit. Maybe even ask other people to help us discern it. No big deal, really.

All of us have received gifts from God. Our primary gift or best gift is an indication of God's plan for us. We will find in it the handwriting of God. It will point to our life project, our assigned purpose, our God ordained mission. It will also point to our happiness.
Peace and every blessing!

Abel
Life Coach

Answer 6

A film by Monty Python that isn't as funny as Holy Grail or the Life of Brian! (but still worth watching)

Answer 7

The meaning of life is to accept totally of who we are without judgement.

Knowing that our true essence is the same and part of the total existence, therefore that we are all One.

Find joy in the other's happiness.

Able to harness the power of intention to create anything we desire by centering ourselves into that silent space, and surrender to the outcome with detached ease.

Answer 8

To give you, me, every other person and every other life form an opportunity to experience different possibilities.

Life is about experiencing different aspects of All That Is to give deeper meaning to the power we have as expressions of Life to manifest our deepest desires whilst living in harmony with each other.

Angela

http://www.spiritualityselfhelp.com...

Answer 9

42

Answer 10

Life – it has a meaning and loving purpose - you just have to find your purpose and live it.

I believe every person is here for a definite purpose. Each person is special and valuable; that refers to me, you, your family, friends, in fact everybody! There is a loving plan for each of our lives here on earth and there is no such thing as coincidence. I don't believe that anything in life happens by chance and that every aspect of our lives points to something deeper.

You need to decide now to live for God rather than for yourself. You spend your life on Earth preparing yourself (as best you can) for death. I don't see death as a scary, negative experience, but birth into a bliss filled eternal life with God. I believe that this is something you have to consciously choose or not during your life on earth.

The meaning of life is for us to discover that we are true children of an infinitely loving God, to find out what our responsibilities are to our Creator, and to fulfill those responsibilities. Each of us is called to affirm, accept and develop the talents God has given us. -