What is the purpose of living if we're all going to die anyway?

Question

If I have caused u to question ur own existence then I have succeeded. Socrates said an unexamined life is not worth living. I believe we just exist, and we create our own purpose. Existence before essence is the appropriate term. I believe in good and bad, wrong and right, and to do unto others as u would have done to u.

Answer 1

there is no Purpose, there is no RIght Thing to do between birth and death, so you can use that empty space for whatever you want.

Answer 2

On the same note as nebeer, though his goes much deeper theologically, the purpose of living is one word: LOVE. It is all we take with us and all we leave behind in the end. Never take it for granted and always appreciate it and express it. One of my favorite quotes, by that famous person Anonymous, once said, " If we all discovered that we had only five minutes left to say all the things we wanted to say, every telephone booth (these days: cell phone) would be occupied by people calling other people to tell them that they loved them". Remember all the last phone messages during 9/11? What were their last words? I lost my beloved mother 1 year ago & "I love you" were the last words we exchanged, and I will treasure that for the rest of my life, and I feel her love inside me forever. On May 22 I was technically dead for 8 minutes after going into anaphalaxis related shock, and I saw the white light and felt myself traveling faster than any speed known on this universe. I am not a religious person, though I am very spiritual, especialy now~but I prayed to God to let my two sons know how much I LOVE them. At the light I saw my mother.She was young again and looked about 25. She told me it wasn't my time, and I had to go back for my children. I woke up in the ER with all kinds of things sticking into and out of my body, and was told I was close to being pronounced dead and was very lucky. Most people think I was dreaming, I don't. Love is why we are here.

Answer 3

At 16 i relate to this question ... Since the younger generation is always trying to find themselves.

but. You know.


Im glad im not alone in this.

Ever since i was six ive asked myself that question , my dad has always told me off when i wanted to talk about it especially with other people. You know why would a 6 year old be thinking that. But its true and it is a question that phases me , but come on no one can answer that.

Who knows what the purpose of life is , if you believe in something greater maybe there is something for you in the after life , if you dont , you most likely will like other have said live life to the fullest. What the point of doing anything if were going to die. Many would say , to provide for their family.

I dont know im probably going a bit off track here. But really. There is possibly no purpose we serve just like the dinosaurs they didnt actually do anything ground breaking and one day all humans will die , and the next evolution of creatures will think. What did they do?.

Answer 4

So what do you want to live forever for? Some people say they wish the weren't delivered over to this world at all ever since they are going to die, which means, they do prefer being dead beforehand so that they won't have to go through it. This is kind of silly is it not? How could anybody possibly fear death when life is being put right in the middle. Is it death what they fear or just life? If you aren't born yet, you are somewhat dead, so why is it you do not want to give yourself a chance of living a life ever since you are already dead. This is cowardice is it not?

Answer 5

wow, I like this question. Let me congratulate you for trying to find out the secret of life itself! 3 years ago, a burning desire awakened in my heart to find out the truth- the secrets of the universe, the secrets of us! And I found out that the commonplace sayings "seek and ye shall receieve, knock and it shall be opened unto thee, ask and it shall be given" are not mere sayings! They are truths from which we can by no way escape! So after I had started seeking, I have found many truths and still I have to find so much...for there is no end in anything! Here I dare to say what I found out to be true:

Love is the foundation of this world and all the worlds. Love is the origin of life. It is the most divine force. But bear in mind that first, one has to understand what Love really is. LOVE IS ALL. and LOVE IS ETERNAL. Love is the creative force that built the universe. In other words God is Love. But this is also true that Love is God!

Now let us explore what is WILL? If our Creator had not bestowed us with the gift of Will, Free Will to be more precise, we would have been like robots. So God has given us the right to choose. So here comes a brilliant discovery- we even get to choose whether we die or live! Yes, what we call death is only a transition to other forms of existence. For in reality, there is no such thing as death, simply because you cannot die! Death means end and nothingness. Thats why there is no death. If we were only to become nothings then we would be such an imperfect creation of Immortal God! As God is Immortal everything He has created must be Immortal! The only way of Life is to Live it...forever! Physical Immortality is something which is within our reach to achieve. And we must achieve this because this is the divine plan. It depends on us to master how to live in everlasting youth. If we dont do this and choose the option of leaving our present temple(body), which we mistakenly call and assume death, we would be reincarnated again!

God created us because we have to become companions of Him. Now we have to develop the growth of our souls. All the wars, killings, misfortune dont happen because God sends them to us. These are only created by our wrong thinking. We must understand how to use our WILL.

On a topic as vast as this so many things need be said but I guess its not suitable to do so in this limited space. If I have been able to awaken the desire to seek the truth in you then I am thankful.

For more enlightenment, you can read "The Life Everlasting" by Marie Corelli. This book is full of the secret laws of the universe

Answer 6

Unless you are going to DIE within the next minute... the purpose of living is to LIVE until you DO die.

To find meaning and purpose to YOUR life... to live life the way you want it to be for you. To find your passions. To find about about yourself. To find out about things... to discover, conquer and FEEL. To BE. To exist and to live.

To die feeling it was worth the ride!

Added - My oh my, someone (or two) is in a foul mood aren't they? All this doom and gloom... and going round giving perfectly decent, reasonable answers thumbs down. Can't see why so many of the replies to this question have been given thumbs down. Thus my conclusion someones in a bad mood.....

Should we all reply with an equally macabre, negative view and agree that yes, life is a huge waste of time, pointless and meaningless. An utterly useless experience because we are all going to die in the end.

Answer 7

It would seem that you are still searching for that which becomes your "purpose", for me, I found it many years ago and work it everyday. That is not to say my life is without its share of peaks and valley's but I negotiate those waters as they come at me. My art is my life and I work it in everything I do, and then I do it again.......
If your anything like me, the search for that "purpose" was long and difficult.

Answer 8

The purpose of living is so we can accomplish our dreams before we die. And besides, too many people think about the future which recs the fun they could have in the present!!

hope this helps!!

Answer 9

My theory:
The purpose of living is 'change'; you can consume this or that, shed this or that, learn this or that, etc.
most people are too vain to change themselves, & go through life trying to change the world around them instead. It is pathetic to the point of being comical...much like a squeeling pig is laughable.
And then you die, & its too late to redeem/change yourself

Answer 10

we've been given this life for a reason, though nobody knows for sure why, or what for.

but, in any case, we've been given this life to live, not to end. We may as well live it! make the most out of it, because we're here, and we might never be here again.