Atheists, what gives your life meaning?

Question

I'm looking for good sentiments here, not your anger issues with the fundies. The reason I don't ask Christians, theists, Jews, etc, is because they invariably say "God". I want to know what it is that makes your life complete. For me, it's the curiosities of every single moment of every single day.

Age of Pisces, you completely missed the point. I am about as far from a religious person as you could get. Could you please read the question again, and respond appropriately?

Gee, some of you are actually making me tear up, a little! All wonderful, beautiful, things to make me smile...(with a few exceptions...Ray J)

Age of Pisces, thank you for the edit.

Answer 1

Wow. Too many peple answering with "family and friends". Everybody and their mother lives for that. Partying and fast cars? Of course, I love them both but you gotta think big. What keeps me going? The desire to leave behind something that will always be remembered. Think about it. People before us have contributed their work and ideas to society to make it what it is today. I don't want to be just the average "have a family, go to work" person when I'm done with school. I want to contribute something of my own to society. Something that people will remember when my time is done. Something that will last and hopefully make one small aspect of someone's future life just a little bit better, because that's what everyone and anyone great has done (piece by piece) in the past to make the society we live in.

Answer 2

I'm agnostic, but that's close enough.

I live to write. I write like my life and others' lives depended on it. I write to give hope. I love rain and sun. I go to the beach and marvel at how each wave is different and how there are millions of tiny stones on the shore that are beautiful all alone, each one.

I live to think of solutions to the world's problems. I try not to worry if there's nothing I can do about them because my worrying won't make any difference. If I can't think of what to do, I wait for the "one" who will have some answers, like Al Gore, for example, and then help spread the word in my writing.

Flowers give my life meaning, as do dogs, mighty trees, streetcars when I ride on them, going to or coming back from somewhere, saying something to a sad looking person that will make them smile, doing little dopey things that I think will make the world turn differently tomorrow. Being happy with what I have and fixing what I don't like instead of hanging around acting like a victim.

It's a complex but beautiful world.

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Answer 3

Well, just being self-aware and able to learn and remember is a big plus. Aside from that, this is a wonderful planet with many amazing sights and people. And then there are the creative outpourings of the human race, the arts, music, movies, books. I find life to be very addictive.

Answer 4

The look of absolute glee on my grand daughters face when she sees me coming because she know that she's gonna be able to pull on "Poppy's" beard. The overwhelmingly exciting welcome I get from my dog when I walk through the door. The mouth watering aromas coming from the kitchen where my lady is preparing my favorite dish for dinner because I know that after forty five years she still lives for me as I do for her. The warmth and the perfume emitted by a roaring fire in the fireplace on a cold winters night with my lady beside me on the couch. Life is good.

Answer 5

The little simple beauties in life. Waking up every morning, be able to have the freedom and independence I have, and to see those I love and share the love I have for the world.

Educating and helping people gives me meaning. Wonder in life, and observing how wonderfully sculptured our universe is makes me feel complete.
Oh, and coffee. Coffee and cupcakes on a Sunday morning.
:3

Answer 6

I think that anything that makes you feel good about yourself would tend to give your life a feeling of having meaning. Help at a homeless shelter, for example. As Carl Sagan said, "want to have meaning? Then go do something meaningful".

Also, I think anything that fills your life would help. Video games are good for that. Sports also.

Finally, I think that focusing on small pleasures in life is good, an excellent restaurant for example. This tends to elevate those small things so that they become reasons for living in themselves.

Answer 7

Ime a pisces kind ov person.The thing that gives my life meaning is meaning to be meaningful.Eating good food is very meaningful,Sexing like dolphins is meaningful. Arguing with you is meaningful. Sleeping and allowing my subconscie nce control me is meaningful.Dispute is another meaning of life.Sorry but all your religious pushing will never take me down to your level of religious confusion.

Answer 8

My self, my loved ones, and science. Everyday a new scientific study is found it gives me hope that someday we can solve all of life's greatest mysteries.

I live for myself, I live for who I love, and I live to live a full life, accomplish all my goals, and leave a legacy behind. Knowing my time on Earth was well spent before I plunge into eternal nothingness of which I'll never feel or notice anyway.

Answer 9

Same as you only without the god crap. I don't need make-believe to give my life meaning.

Edit: I have to apologize. Sorry, I mistook this question as coming from a Fundie that was implying that without God atheists don't have anything to live for (it, as you know, is asked often) and replied in kind. Actually I live for the standard reasons, life, family and rearing a daughter to be a good open person. I also live for the little things like a parent telling me that their child learned to swim by swimming to the raft that I anchor in the local lake and take care of each summer out of the kindness of my atheist heart. I am basically greedy and live life for the "thank you"s.

Answer 10

I believe in humanity.
I love my family, my friends, my country, the beach, the sky, the smile of my kids, the sunrise and the sunset, sailing down wind, my profession, sex, science, riding a bicycle, the Colbert Report, even the people that don't believe the same as me. Yes I love my life.

I hope this can answer your question. :-)