The answer to the meaning of life is within you.

I was just thinking to myself a while ago. I know the meaning of my life. I don't one hundred percent know what it is all the time but I have an idea of what it is. How I understand my life is that my meaning of life is to learn and to share my knowledge with others, to help other people be less ignorant of the world around them, and to have a good life. I don't think the meaning of life is in some far out philosophical text. The meaning of life cannot be found by studying science or religion for hours and hours. Science can only tell you so much. The meaning of life- the answer to it- is within you. It is whatever you want it to be. Life means what you want it to mean. You can make life however you want it to be. That is what it is. Life is yours to make. The meaning of life is within you.

reply to post by Frankidealist35


I truly wish it were that simple! Is my life what I want it to be... No...and I can honestly say it is not from a lack of trying. I think that the meaning of life is to love and be loved... and that is just a small part...I don't think it can be described in merely a few words....

Originally posted by Greenize
reply to post by Frankidealist35

 

Is my life what I want it to be... No...

Well he didn't say that life is what you want it to be he said the meaning of life was what you wanted it to be. It can still be to have a gold yacht and a record deal even if that's not what you have achieved. It’s up to you what that goal is.


Personally I think there is no real meaning to life, it just is and it does whatever it does until something stops it. That is true whether you take life to mean the concept of a living thing or whether you take it to mean the individual. Some things are bound to happen or be, like the will to survive or reproduction but only in so far as that is the particular evolutionary path of least resistance. If we could live forever then reproduction wouldn’t be as high a priority. No one is here to learn, or love or aid others; we learn, love and aid other because that is where evolution has led us and it works.

lol I didn’t mean that to come off quite as bleak as that.

Edit – Just thought of a better way of putting that; what you do isn’t the goal of life, life is the goal of what you do.



[edit on 10-8-2009 by Mike_A]

reply to post by Mike_A


Actually toward the end of his post he said

You can make life however you want it to be.

That is why I answered as I did.

I totally agree...

But what when others affects what you want for your life to be?

What when the current situations obligates you to be a modern slave?

I also will like to be thing will be so simple but unfortunately as long as people seek for control not everyone will find their meaning of life so easy...

reply to post by Greenize


Ah well in that case disregard.

You can certainly try to make it what you want but you probably won't succeed.

reply to post by Mike_A


Thank you for the vote of confidence!!

Well that does sound nice, but that's more or less what a conversation is, saying knowledge and gathering knowledge things we do to better our lives, stronger, better conversating skills better life, just ask apes, don't see them doing all to well.

Although we do share the same meaning, mate and don't die at all costs.

...the meaning of life cannot be found by studying science or religion

religion means, in the greek: RE - backward, previous LIGIO - to link.

i am not a "religious" person in the most colloquial sense. but life takes on a great meaning when you look at how you are linked backward through time. this is the proper meaning of religion....and the proper purpose of any religious text.

....alas, i abandoned the need for "meaning" quite some time ago. "meaninglessness" can be quite satisfying, tho.

[edit on 11-8-2009 by tgidkp]

I think that sometimes, we get lost in our speculations and philosophy. Often it is the simplicity in life that matters. Like living in the moment instead of dwelling in yesterday or worrying about tomorrow. There is great power in a smile, in appreciating our family and friends, being in nature, offering our love and compassion. To some people it makes all the difference in the world. We learn and share on our journey through life. We strive for balance in living a meaningful life. just my two cents worth.

I don`t really agree with what has been said here.

There is a personal meaning inside everyone of us, but I feel that this is more a creation of our own imagination. We see the world, we try to comprehend it and thus we create some sort of goal or purpose.

On the other hand I believe there should be a general purpose of life, just as you see in an ant colony. Ants` Purpose: work for the queen to ensure survival and growth of the entire population.

Now with us humans I just don`t see it. We don`t have anyone in general to look up to as role model and we also don`t set goals as a species. We just get born, we study, we work, we mate and die... How can there be a real purpose to life ?!?

Having no purpose to life seems more logical to me, but it brings along the idea of being irrelevant as a individual and as a species. It also makes me constantly wonder why we all do the things we do ( such as working, studying,... ) And if you take in perspective the actual size of our earth and the beings living on it, it really, really makes it difficult to believe that we could actually have a meaningful purpose. Just my 2 cents....

My idea on the meaning of life is to give life meaning.

Someone with nothing to die for has nothing to live for.

Originally posted by LiveForever8
My idea on the meaning of life is to give life meaning.

Someone with nothing to die for has nothing to live for.

Someone with something to live for dies for nothing.

Originally posted by Republican08

Originally posted by LiveForever8
My idea on the meaning of life is to give life meaning.

Someone with nothing to die for has nothing to live for.

Someone with something to live for dies for nothing.

Eh?

Originally posted by LiveForever8

Originally posted by Republican08

Originally posted by LiveForever8
My idea on the meaning of life is to give life meaning.

Someone with nothing to die for has nothing to live for.

Someone with something to live for dies for nothing.

Eh?

I won't retort with the usual ATS your stupid because you don't understand, because I understand it was quite... un understandable lol.

Someone with something to live for, (a meaning to life) or a life to give meaning to would be ultimately pointless as the earth will die, and the solar system and our universe will become a dark black and empty place cosmologically soon enough.

The meaning of an unimportant man has no meaning but the meaning given to it is a meaning not worth living.

If that makes sense? I can understand if it doesn't it's late

reply to post by Republican08


So your saying...that giving life meaning is eventually a meaningless task as we will all die and the universe will evaporate into nothingness?

Thats what i understand you to be saying

Giving life meaning is not futile. With that attitude we may aswell blow ourselves up now.

My meaning of Life is as follows:
To Experience life as much as humanly possible. To be in Service to Others. To Learn as much as possible about everything. To Raise my Spiritual Level to it's highest point possible.

Originally posted by LiveForever8
reply to post by Republican08

 

So your saying...that giving life meaning is eventually a meaningless task as we will all die and the universe will evaporate into nothingness?

Thats what i understand you to be saying

Giving life meaning is not futile. With that attitude we may aswell blow ourselves up now.

LMAO, we might as well.

Don't do it though!

I think Joseph Campbell said it best:

"I don't believe life has a purpose. Life is a lot of protoplasm with an urge to reproduce and continue in being...Just sheer life cannot be said to have a purpose, because look at all the different purposes it has all over the place. But each incarnation, you might say, has a potentiality, and the mission of life is to live that potentiality. How do you do it? My answer is, 'Follow your bliss.' There's something inside you that knows when you're in the center, that knows when you're on the beam or off the beam."

"Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning."

So in other words, I agree with the OP - the meaning of life is entirely subjective, determined by your own experienc and nothing else. The idea that it is some secret to be discovered under a rock somewhere is a product of our all-too-common tendency to search outward for answers rather than inward.