Search for meaning in life?

Question

Most people in life at one time or another think "what is the meaning of life?" people find some sort of answer to it. eg religion, possessions, relationships, friendships, books, nature music travel etc.
the search for meaning often involves doing many things- many people travel, or go on pilgrimages, some religions require it at least once, eg the muslims go to mecca.

in life there are many barriers to it, eg work, religion holding you back(-if you dont agree with its teaching for example). the media, relationships etc
and then some people never find meaning in life..


basically i was wondering what helps you as a human being to search -or find the meaning in life for you, and what the barriers to searching for meaning are for YOU?
i asked a question similar to this a few minutes ago but really didnt find what i was looking for: http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlA2UaNDljpa0F9_7gOQbBkgBgx.;_ylv=3?qid=20071124095355AAl5E5p

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)

Answer 2

Since I was young I was taken to Church and at the age of 8 I felt the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit touch me and showed me that I needed to be saved, by my family taking me to church really give me a head start on life and it gave meaning to it because I have seen God work so many miracles and just change so many lives that I can easily say that Jesus Christ is the meaning and the purpose of my Life. Getting saved so young has given me alot of years of experience in seeing how Jesus changes things by prayer because I have been watching for them all my life. To many times we don't see what is actually happening around us and all the time God is at work. I really encourage you to get out a Bible preferrably a king james version and start reading it. We live in a world today where people say there is no God but I know for a fact Jesus is real and so does millions more. Think about it, When you see a Cross does it remind you of Jesus, When you see a Church with that big steeple sticking up does that make you think of Jesus? Did you know that in the book of Hebrews it says that Jesus actually wrote his laws in our hearts and minds so that we all might know him. If you have any questions on Jesus or would like to talk more send me an email, God Bless!!

Answer 3

Look at Nature. There is a common tendency to grow, to get better, to evolve. The meaning of life is very clear. We may have reached the apex of physical evolution, although we are only using about 10% of our brains, but we have a lot to improve spiritually. The Christian new order of being is an ideal we Christians hope to reach. The ability to heal the sick through prayer is an advanced spiritual level.

Answer 4

A lot of people are lost looking for what they will never be able to comprehend. For me personally, being a Muslim, Islam has taught me a lot. Islam is not a religion, it's a complete way of life - it has the answers to whatever kind of problem you have. It teaches you the difference between this life and the Hereafter. Sadly, it is a lot misunderstood nowadays :( http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ln=eng is a good site if you want to learn more. Best of luck in your search for the meaning of life.

Answer 5

this helped me last thursday

today i was havin a nervous breakdown in car and i passed a dread locked homeless man who yelled happy thanksgiving
i doubled back and gave him some money his big smile made feel like a person again there was something mystical at play

as for barriers the block to my sucess has been the horrorible social service system here in vt which was my field of employment i have since moved to special education which continues to be painful process financially

Answer 6

An open mind, read widely, and most important of all, if you have an opportunity to do something, do it, or spend the rest of your life wondering what would have happened if you did.

I like to create meaning in my life rather than look for it, on the whole.

Answer 7

The meaning of life is to live a long, healthy life.

As far as I'm concerned, I'll just be happy if I go through my entire life without being stabbed.

But, actually, for me, the meaning of life is to do what I must when I must. I don't exactly "live for others," but by my philosophy, to do unto others is to do unto oneself.

Answer 8

There is no universal meaning to life. The only way life can have meaning if you give your life meaning.

Answer 9

Spend more time helping others than helping yourself. Life will be wonderful.

Answer 10

Catholics believe the meaning of human life is to know and love God.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/prologue.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 11

to glorify God

build bridges not barrier's,