I believe we all make our own meaning in life, what's yours?

Question

I'm sure you've all heard the question [or asked], "What's the meaning of life?"
I think we make our own meanings.
Tell me what yours is! :D

Answer 1

The philosophical question "What is the meaning of life?" means different things to different people. The vagueness of the query is inherent in the word "meaning", which opens the question to many interpretations, such as: "What is the origin of life?", "What is the nature of life (and of the universe in which we live)?", "What is the significance of life?", "What is valuable in life?", and "What is the purpose of, or in, (one's) life?". These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and arguments, from scientific theories, to philosophical, theological, and spiritual explanations.

These questions are separate from the scientific issue of the boundary between things with life and inanimate objects.
Popular beliefs
"What is the meaning of life?" is a question many people ask themselves at some point during their lives, most in the context "What is the purpose of life?" Here are some of the many potential answers to this perplexing question. The responses are shown to overlap in many ways but may be grouped into the following categories:

Survival and temporal success
...to live every day like it is your last and to do your best at everything that comes before you
...to be always satisfied
...to live, go to school, work, and die
...to participate in natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race
...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future of intelligent life
...to compete or co-operate with others
...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance
...to gain and exercise power
...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
...to eat
...to prepare for death
...to spend life in the pursuit of happiness, maybe not to obtain it, but to pursue it relentlessly.
...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction (alike to participating in evolution)
...to protect and preserve one's kin, clan, or tribe (akin to participating in evolution)
...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially
...to observe the ultimate fate of humanity to the furthest possible extent
...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate
...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means
...to attempt to have many sexual conquests (as in Arthur Schopenhauer's will to procreate)
...to find and take over all free space in this "game" called life
...to seek and find beauty
...to kill or be killed
...No point. Since having a point is a condition of living human consciousness. Animals do not need a point to live or exist. It is more of an affliction of consciousness that there are such things as points, a negative side to evolutionary development for lack of better words.

Wisdom and knowledge
...to master and know everything
...to be without questions, or to keep asking questions
...to expand one's perception of the world
...to explore, to expand beyond our frontiers
...to learn from one's own and others' mistakes
...to seek truth, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom
...to understand and be mindful of creation or the cosmos
...to lead the world towards a desired situation
...to satisfy the natural curiosity felt by humans about life

Ethical
...to express compassion
...to follow the "Golden Rule"
...to give and receive love
...to work for justice and freedom
...to live in peace with yourself and each other, and in harmony with our natural environment
...to protect humanity, or more generally the environment
...to serve others, or do good deeds

Religious and spiritual
...to find perfect love and a complete expression of one's humanness in a relationship with God
...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context
...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace
...to become like God, or divine
...to glorify God
...to experience personal justice (i.e. to be rewarded for goodness)
...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. to seek objectivity)
...to be a filter of creation between heaven and hell
...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity)
...to reach Heaven in the afterlife
...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
...to turn fear into joy at a constant rate achieving on literal and metaphorical levels: immortality, enlightenment, and atonement
...to understand and follow the "Word of God"
...to discover who you are
...to resolve all problems that one faces, or to ignore them and attempt to fully continue life without them, or to detach oneself from all problems faced

Philosophical
...to give life meaning
...to participate in the chain of 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)
...to know the meaning of life
...to achieve self-actualisation
...all possible meanings have some validity
...life in itself has no meaning, for its purpose is an opportunity to create that meaning, therefore:
...to die
...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose)
...nature taking its course (the wheel of time keeps on turning)
...whatever you see you see, as in "projection makes perception"
...there is no purpose or meaning whatsoever
...life may actually not exist, or may be illusory )
...to contemplate "the meaning of the end of life"

Other
...to contribute to collective meaning ("we" or "us") without having individual meaning ("I" or "me")
...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 participate in the inevitable increase in entropy of the universe
...to make conformists' lives miserable
...to make life as difficult as possible for others (i.e. to compete)
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Answer 2

Our meaning in life can only come from living out our purpose. Having purpose implies a Designer/Creator and a plan.

“Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.” –Bertrand Russell (noted philosopher, mathematician, Nobel Laureate and atheist)

Meanings that we invent for ourselves are not meanings at all. They are just ways to seek good feelings, i.e. happiness. We like good feelings but they cannot impart meaning any more than seeking a good beer can impart meaning to our lives. Happiness is just some chemicals in the brain so seeking happiness is just like an addict seeking a fix.

Answer 3

The meaning of life is life. In some way, we were born. So the purpose of life is to live life, from when were born to when we are dead. You see, when you are born, you learn 2 things, Life and Happiness. (you cant argue that, and wont win). Happiness is on Top of everything. The top of the "stairs". The steps leading down are all emotions, or negative things.(you cant argue this, and wont win) When we take a step down from happiness. we will do anything to get back to the top.(cant argue this) Example...We will help people out in life, because it makes us happy. Or Some will Kill people in life because it makes them happy. But both did what they did because it made them happy. always keeping them selves at the top spot which is "Happiness" (aplause, thank you thank you) Was Hitler a bad person? No, he did what he did to achieve his own personal happiness. I just cant be mad at that, he was trying to be happy the whole time.(bless him and all the people who died at that time) If Hitler was a bad person, is only a point of view.
I know this answered your question. as to what you can do with your life, there is only one answer, what ever makes you happy.

Answer 4

I think you're right. We do make our own, because there isn't a 'ready made' one to be found 'out there' somewhere.

For me it is about connecting with friends and family, trying to generally leave things better than I found them when possible. I think a sense of contribution is something that often gets overlooked these days. My urge to leave things better goes from helping out friends to trying my best to parent my daughter in a way that contributes to her being a well-balanced person who enjoys life fully.

My career as a counselor involves helping others to make the best out of difficult circumstances and figure out how to engage in life more fully. The intellectual challenge of the work and the honor of people letting me get a glimpse of the personal details of their lives as I work to help them is very satisfying. Next to connecting with people, I get the next biggest amount of enjoyment out of trying to understand as much about our world and about people as I can. I love to read and reading is very much caught up in the meaning of my life. From human behavior, to how consciousness works, to understanding the complex interaction between genes and environments, to beginning to understand how gene provide the recipe to build a body I deeply enjoy learning about the details. I don't know how many others would enjoy my approach to life, but it is certainly a good match for my temperament.

Answer 5

The meaning in life for me is you can do more than what you think you can.

Answer 6

I believe true meaning is a gift that we cannot give to ourselves, but that we must still make the effort to reach out our hand and receive it.

Answer 7

To make things pleasant for myself and everyone else. People need to lighten up more.

Answer 8

To help humanity come one inch closer to satisfying all curiosity.