What Is The Meaning Of Life & Life’s Purpose - Answers
Table of Contents (Jump Links)
Introduction
This is a topic many people encounter when they retire. We attach a lot of our personal sense of identity and self-worth to the work we do. It is very normal when we retire to start pondering some of these bigger questions and challenge assumptions we may have previously held.
A little while back I wrote an article titled “What Is A Human Life Worth?” I think it came out a little more nihilistic than I initially intended. But as I wrote the article I observed and explored the loop logic of applying a monetary value on a human life because money itself is an artificial construct of humans, it can’t truly represent the value of a human life in a meaningful or relevant way.
This naturally lead me to ponder an even bigger question. What is the meaning of life, and what is life’s purpose? This is different than “why are we here?” we could just be random cosmic dust or gods creation. The “WHY” is less important in my opinion than the importance in finding purpose or meaning.
Sometimes we can feel very small
What Is Optimistic Nihilism?
As I was reading the book The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck, the author introduced me to a school of thought I hadn’t considered before which is Optimistic Nihilism. What is this word play you ask? I thought Nihilistic people were all doom and gloom goth types. Turns out that is a popular theme but Optimistic Nihilism takes it a step further
Lewis Laves-Webb describes optimistic nihilism as follows:
Optimistic nihilism views the belief that there is no underlying meaning to life from a perspective of hope. It’s not that we’re doomed to live in a meaningless universe--it’s that we get the chance to experience ourselves and the universe we share. The optimistic nihilist looks at a world lacking meaning and purpose and sees the opportunity to create their own.
“Life is what we make it” – Eleanor Roosevelt
I really like this concept and reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Eleanor Roosevelt “Life is what we make it”. It’s not that there is no point to life and the universe is meaningless. It just is, and, thru luck we happen to be here, life is a gift and we have the chance to experience everything in this brief moment we call life.
The author of The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck Agrees. It’s not that life is meaningless and we shouldn’t care or try to do good things, it’s the opposite, because we ARE here we should try to make this world and yourself the best version you possibly can! Because if there is no bigger purpose why not make the best of it?
I realized We’ve been asking the wrong question all along! It’s not “why are we here?” or “What is a human life worth?” the real question comes after the realization WE ARE HERE! What do you want to do about it? The answer is to make this world and your experience of it the best you possibly can because life is a gift of time to be cherished.
So the meaning of life is to essentially make the world the best version of you can for yourself and fellow humans. Essentially the meaning of life is to promote and further life thru your actions.
This is an interesting concept and one that most religions around the world would agree with. You also see it in nature where animals will protect others of the same species and sometimes even other species.
Life is bigger than just you and me
Purpose Of Life
I found an elegantly written post online some time ago that I feel nails the above concepts in a nicely structured way I feel will resonate with many people. (I currently can’t find original source, once I do I’ll provide a reference)
The Purpose Of Life
The purpose of existence is to promote human life however you see fit. Mostly by learning from passed generations so you may eventually pass down their knowledge to the next. You don't even need to reproduce or get married. You just need to contribute. We are all living time capsules trying to serve a purpose to help others survive so we may each have a full life.
Not everyone has the same beliefs and not everyone is dealt the same hand. So depending on where you are at in life, fun may not be an option but finding the fun in what you are doing definitely helps your mental state to survive and promote life.
I say, “promote life however you see fit" because not everyone has the same idea on how to do it. Conflicting views create wars in which case fun relieves us of the thought of death. You may be thinking, killing each other does not promote life. Death is the opposite of life. Killing does promote life if it stops a murderer from killing others. This is not meant to scare you. This is meant as a warning and to act with caution for someone who looks at the purpose of life as fun is liable to be taken advantage of.
Examples of how to promote life:
Promote human life by starting a family and having kids to ensure the species to continue to live on. If you think you can raise a kid to be the next Einstein, you should have children because we need more intelligent people who can solve the difficult problems in our world.
Promote human life by not starting a family and not having kids. One less human is one less mouth to feed. You can save up money and donate to a foundation or continue your education and become smarter. In doing this, you can help solve the difficult problems around the world to promote human life and allow others to have more fun.
Promote human life by climbing the career ladder which will inspire others achieve their own life goals. If you make it to the top as a celebrity you will gain fame and live “forever”.
Editors Note, I think this is sarcasm, nothing is forever but for those seeking immortality, fame may be the closet thing to it. Our life is not just the breaths we breath but the legacy we leave.
Promote human life by saving animals and preserving the nature so our ecosystem still exists long enough until we can either leave this planet or find some way to save it.
Promote human life through making advancements in technology.
Promote life through different forms of entertainment. This can serve as a reward for those you have had a long day at work which they do not find fun and want to find an escape.
Promote human life by controlling the masses. Leaders are needed to help us work as a team toward a collective goals bigger than us.
Promote human life by just existing. Dogs and cats do it all the time. You can bring comfort to someone by just being there for them.
Most importantly, promote yourself. Promote your own life and your own well-being because life is also about survival and only you will ever “truly” care about your own life and where it is going. We are all trying to survive and live our best life. Make sure your life comes first, and if not, make sure whoever you are sacrificing your goals for is worth it.
Life is the impact we have on others to further the human condition
Conclusion
In short, the meaning of life is to leave more good in this world than you take, and leave this world a better place so future generations can continue the journey.
Hopefully you found this perspective to be a useful and empowering one as you make the most of your life.
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