Meaning of life

leeCal

i actually wanted to make a poll but couldn’t find the means for some reason, perhaps it was a sign.

in the poll I would ask people to vote thus;
is the meaning of life ...
to grow spiritually ?
to simply be happy ?
simply a biological process without meaning ?

Or somehow all three of the above?

perhaps we could discuss this today ?

vikingqueen

    Seek out the people and places that resonate with your soul and you won't go far wrong in life.

leeCal

I think after decades of yearning for and gaining ‘things’ I’ve definitely learnt that real happiness comes from within, from being happy with the simple things. That probably sounds like a cliche but the nature of everything in the world is one of impermanence, literally nothing lasts forever. Of course that impermanence allows change, growth and development so it’s not all bad news. 

I know someone who is driven and permanently lives for the next goal, never allowing happiness to interfere with achievement. It’s very sad to watch. Time for another cliche, the journey is the important thing as well as the goal. 

Cher_Alumni

@leecal Here's a link to make a poll in the future if you ever need it.  But yes, maybe it was divine intervention that you couldn't make one as the answers are so many and varied! 

The meaning of life has been fluid for me, dependent on what I was going through and my age.  I used to think it was about proving myself, doing better than my peers and all that other neoliberal stuff drilled into us children of the 1980's!  But who were we proving ourselves to exactly, and why did their opinions matter so much?  They never did, did they?  But this drive was deeply embedded in my psyche, after years of negotiating chronic illness, I felt I had to 'show 'em what I was made of'.

Now all that's stopped.  Lockdown, although absolutely horrendous for so many reasons, brought a massive realisation to me that I'd had everything I needed and the grass wasn't necessarily greener.  Recognising the beauty of the everyday, the gift of relative health and the ability to love and be loved - what more could you ever need? 

To be honest, this is something I'm contemplating more as I approach being a mum.  With my role changing, I'm thinking what would I want for my son?  Uppermost, I want him to know he has nothing to prove and like you all say - being happy, feeding his soul with people/places and acceptance of who he is, is more than enough 

leeCal

Thank you @Cher_Scope, great post. 

thank you too @woodbine and @vikingqueen

?

vikingqueen

           A beautiful post @Cher_Scope, your life will change the second your son is placed in your arms, you will will love him with your very being and guard him with your life. All he needs is mummy and daddy to show him the way and that there is beauty in everything. You are going to be wonderful parents, enjoy every second when he arrives, blink and your baby will be grown up, My children will always be my babies, even all grown with families of their own and I never fail to tell them how much they are loved. 

janer1967

My interpretation is to live your life best you can with what you have and achieve what is within your capability and not to prove yourself to others just yourself 

Learn , grow,  develop,  love   be loved and love yourself 

One thing that is certain in life is that there will always be change and its how we accept that 

It is our experiences of life that make us what we are today 

chiarieds

This is a question I've asked myself since being a child, along with why am I here? As I became an adult, having a family was very important to me, &, as vikingqueen says so eloquently, your life changes the moment you hold & see your child. I'm fortunate that I'm very proud of how my children have turned out, not in their achievements (I always told them to aim for the stars, but if they didn't get there, it didn't matter), but in who they are, & we know how much we love, & help each other. And yes, all you want is for your child to be happy. To me, my legacy is my children.

I am a spiritual person, & it's important to me to continue to embrace this, & still hope to grow even in the later years of my life. We're never too old to learn.

kelics

The meaning of life is simple - to live.

We are all born with only one purpose which is to live and we all have the same final destination, this what makes us all the same.

What differentiate us is the journey to our final destination.

Peace \/.

leeCal

Living for today is probably a good idea since now is really all we have, yesterday being gone and tomorrow being unknown.  I don’t mean in a hedonistic way of course but to live in the now with compassion for others, taking some time to appreciate what we have and to cherish our loved ones.

Its good to stop and consider things from time to time, take stock before we move on again.

Lisatho11987777

Number 42 is the meaning of life 

Sandy_123

I'm still working it out @leeCal

kelics

Sandy_123 said:

I'm still working it out @leeCal

Like one of Indian Yogi said "you can search for the meaning of life for 1000 years, you will never find it

leeCal

To even ask what is the meaning of life technically, is to suggest there is a meaner, someone or thing which means there to be life, a God or gods perhaps or a conscious universe. So an atheist wouldn’t agree that there is a meaning of life but rather that we are free to choose our own, since presumably the bottom line is that from this point of view the meaning of life is that it’s simply a biological outcome. We then are to reach maturation, breed and raise our young to maturation ad infinitum. They would also probably agree that the best way to be is to be happy and avoid suffering as far as is possible. 

from a more spiritual point of view there are other more intriguing meanings to life, one of which is to grow spiritually and return to our maker a little more whole than we began.  Some religions believe in rebirth and others reincarnation so they too believe the meaning is to grow over lifetimes. Buddhists believe in the need to become a realised Buddha to prevent rebirth in samsara and the suffering it brings for example. Presumably religious people also believe that whatever the reasons behind life it is also better to be happy and to avoid suffering whilst on their journey here.

That’s about as near as I can get to seeing both sides and it’s probably painfully obvious that I don’t have a degree in either philosophy or theology so please excuse my thoughts on the matter. However i would argue that what unites people is the desire to be happy, live in peace and avoid pain and if everyone could just accept that truism perhaps we could avoid wars, famine and live in a more harmonious world. I pray it will be so one day.

Lisatho11987777

I agree with the last paragraph 

OverlyAnxious

Certainly an interesting thread!

I don't have any religious beliefs.  I genuinely believe I'm here at this point in time through sheer coincidence.  I also don't believe there is anything at all after this.  So the 'meaning' of life to me is purely biological.

However, while all other beings are (presumably!) content with just feeding and multiplying...humans are slightly too smart for their own good.  I think we'll always be searching for something more than the basic biology...

rubin16

I believe in the ancient alien astronaut theory as theres tons of evidence to suggest it, and if you read each biblical text like the bible and Quran they all say similar things and are roughly the same just been misinterpreted. Also if you look at the first ever human wiritings it explains that humans were developed and made by other beings.

So basically I believe we are an experiment, We were made and I do believe that one day (not so far in the future) we will be either welcomed into the universe (space travel) or destroyed.

Dragonslayer

The meaning of life. The question we all ask ourselves. 
Finding love, friends and happiness. Treating others, the way we want to be treated. Then spreading it around.

chiarieds

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Daniel_2021

Hi,
Great question!
I don't think our lives have a meaning as this would mean they are predetermined by someone/something else. I do however think we have the ability to give our life a set of values and aspirations to live by i.e to find love, treat people with respect, be the best person you can.
The reason I don't think it has a meaning is simply because some people have a tough life, how and why would that have been predetermined.
If I look at my life at the moment it is nothing short of ****; it's full of pain, no independence, a cycle of appointments with little traction and deminishing mental health. I therefore find my life to currently have no meaning or value.
Sorry my message has taken a slightly downbeat note it's just how I feel. I do love philosophical questions as it's great to see how people can judge a set of circumstances in different ways or where they are in their life their values may change.
Thanks,
Daniel 

chiarieds

Well, by accident I was trying to delete my draft posts, so this ending up being discussed further, & thank you Daniel for your input. My draft post was full of Carl Jung, & probably not relevant!

I can agree with you in part; whilst you may feel your life has no meaning, what you're going through may impact another's life, & perhaps you'll never know, but perhaps it will nonetheless help another.

I therefore disagree somewhat; what you learn, what you go through, & sharing this may help others. Isn't that worthwhile? Your life & experiences may therefore matter a lot, so in this way at least can have a meaning, don't you think?