If this life is all there is, what is the purpose of living?

Answer 1

This life is not all there is.... The purpose of the human form of life is to discover who you are....

Seek out, pray, and begin the journey.

in all other life forms this was not possible for you. Don't treat this life where you have a more developed consciousness like that of an animal life.

You are questioning, that is the beggining... keep on going

Answer 2

Are you suggesting there has to be some greater purpose to all of this, for life to be worthwhile?

Well, why?

Why do we have to be here to "serve God" or whatever? Can't we enjoy life without some greater expectation being placed on it?

Your purpose for living is what you put into it. Even if life is all some big chemical accident, we can still watch a beautiful sunrise, smell dinner cooking when we get home, hold a beautiful baby, help the old lady across the street, and even fall in love. Those things don't require a purpose. They just require that I be open to life. Too many religious people miss out on that, because they're too busy trying to figure out whether they're doing enough to get into heaven ... or worse, they're too busy telling other people why they WON'T get into heaven. (But they'll pray for you, of course.)

We're here. That's enough. Who knows why? And why worry about it when you can't answer it anyway? Just laugh, love, and learn. If there is a compassionate being running the show, that should be enough to qualify you for some goodies after you die, if you need that kind of incentive. And if there's not, you've still led a good, full life, you've made others happy, and you've made a difference in the world, no matter how small.

Answer 3

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

So without God, there can be no purpose. Most of the answers here are telling you either how to get feelings, e.g. "Make what you can of it and try to have fun along the way." or how to distract yourself through busyness so you won't think about real purpose.

And those who say there is no purpose don't ever live their own lives that way because without purpose, our lives have no worth. People will often say there is no purpose in life and then in (almost) the next breath tell you that their purpose is to "make a difference in the world". It is logically inconsistent, meaning self delusion, to say there is no God and then live a life as if there was a purpose for living.

So the choices are (1) to spend our lives seeking meaningless feelings or (2) to seek our Creator who, if He exits, put the need for purpose into our brains in order to point us to seek Him.

Answer 4

Oh, that's an easy one. 1) Most likely, and 2) There is no inherent purpose to living, but there doesn't have to be. Isn't the fact that you're alive good enough for you, does there really have to be something all-consumingly important for you to do? Well, if the answer is yes to either or both of those questions, then your purpose in life is to give money to incoming college freshmen. Until the school year starts, then it is to give money to college freshmen. Heck, just give me money. But anyway, joking aside, if you must have a purpose, the position is open, take charge of your life and give yourself a purpose.

Answer 5

Carl Sagan was once asked, "If there is no God,
then how do we find a meaning for life?" He replied: "Do something meaningful."

Whether that "something" is fulfilling to you personally or to all humans is up to you.

Just because your life has no "ultimate" purpose does not mean it's devoid of beauty and significance. Every day is a gift that we can cherish and enjoy.

Answer 6

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time
Any fool can do it
There ain't nothing to it
Nobody knows how we got to
The top of the hill
But since we're on our way down
We might as well enjoy the ride

James Taylor

Answer 7

Who said there's a purpose?

Make your own purpose.

Answer 8

This life is only all there is if you choose to die by disobeying God. If you obey him, the purpose of living is life and happiness for all eternity. It is amazing that some people would rather die than obey when he knows us better than anyone else and he does all things for our benefit.

Answer 9

The purpose of life is to create new life. Find someone to love and make more....

Answer 10

if you found out tomorrow someone close to you was going to die, would you care? would you bother to try and spend their last minutes with them? would it make a difference to you if there was or wasn't a heaven? the point of my questions is that life is precious. that is something that i as an atheist believe. and what makes it more precious is the fact that we are here for only so much time, so we should live it as if we are going to die tomorrow.