What is the meaning of life? Everyone asks themselves at least 27 times during their lifetime the question of, “what am I doing with my life?!”
Some people will say that making a lot of money, and being successful is the meaning of life. Some will say that doing what you love is what’s important, and some will say that being happy is the most important thing.
Our society, and our ways of living over human existence, have created certain views and standards about the meaning of life. We all know about the cycle of going to school, getting a good job, fall in love, get married, get kids, work and die.
Having a family, and expanding our line of genes is the most fulfilling thing you can accomplish in life. In our more modern days, we have flipped our way of thinking a little bit, by saying that if you don’t get kids over the course of your lifetime, but focus on your career and become really successful, you are still accomplishing fulfillment. Is this true? Does money, a good job, or a family make up the meaning of life? If this was the case wouldn’t all people with families and fat bank accounts be the happiest people in the world? And don’t even get started on the people who have both!! A family and a fantastic, well payed job. This is, in most instances not the case. But we can take out the good parts in both instances and blend up a unique drink of happiness;
Being around people who you love and who loves you – A family will provide this. Or a friend, or anything else that is a social being, capable of giving you love.
Having money to buy things that makes us able to live and be happy – A good job with a steady income will provide this (And to the people who are against the thought of being rich, no we need money. Without it we can’t live, we can’t eat, we can’t put clothes on our bodies. Even if you are not looking to become a 100 dollar bill throwing blinged up rapper, you still need money to survive)
What we really need in life is purpose. Not Justin Bieber’s album, but real purpose. A purpose gives you the energy to wake up on rainy days. A purpose makes you run the extra mile, a purpose in life makes you feel alive. True purpose is something that will involve other human beings. No matter if you’re a volunteer building up villages in third world countries, or a lawyer fighting to release an innocent man, or a baker, wanting to fulfill the pleasure of eating something delicious. The feeling of knowing that you did something to make someone else feel good is a feeling that beats everything else. The feeling on knowing that your action made a small difference for the better. That’s why we can see really successful people who are making racks on racks on racks, but who are the most anxious and unhappy people ever. They might be lawyers, but defending someone of guilt. They might be producing weapons that are the cause of mass killings in wars, etc. Or we have the people who’s end goal is to make as much money as possible, but when they get there they haven’t made time for anything or anyone else, so they have nobody to share it with. They end up alone, without love or real social human connection. They were working without a purpose, chasing after nothing more than dollar bills and condos.
The best, and absolute ideal way in achieving a happy, meaningful life is to make your purpose generate an income. How do we do this? We have to take our work, or passion and create a purpose from it. For example, let’s say you have a very strong passion for rollerblading. It’s all you do. Wake up, roller blade, afternoons, the blades come out again, you’re practically having wet dreams about your roller blades. How would you turn rollerblading into a purpose that would help someone else? Well, you could start up a rollerblading school, teaching kids and helping them explore the magic about it. You could become a professional rollerblader, and become an inspiration for people with dreams they think “will never become anything real”. Maybe you invent a new type of roller blade that are not only used for rolling around, but that also acts as a massage tool, to help people get their stubborn knots out faster than ever. You see where I’m going with this? Or do I need to get more invested in roller blades to come up with more ideas and examples?
When you create a purpose from you passion, you will come up with an original solution to something that is helpful, and beneficial to someone, or something in this world. When you shift your dreams and goals towards the fulfilling purpose, your mind will shift and create a stronger discipline that will make your dreams come true. This my friends, is the meaning of life. Having a purpose, and being the reason for a difference in this world, for one person or for a million people. The feeling of purpose is the feeling of power. The feeling of power makes us feel more alive than ever. If feeling the most alive possible isn’t the meaning of life, I don’t know what is.
“There is no selfless good dead.” – I agree with this, and I don’t think there is. But if doing good makes us feel good, I can’t see the bad.
