Giving meaning to the life

Sometimes I wonder, what is the objective of life? Why we are here on this planet? Who decides the fate of everyone who comes to life on this earth and one day gets expired. What has someone done to live a king’s life and others are struggling for little needs in their life? 

Is it our past life karma or something else which decides our life on this planet? Preachers of God say, “we are born on this earth to serve a purpose”. What is that purpose and how to live a successful and happy life? So many questions need an answer? 

Let’s first explore the Purpose of Life to identify answers to the meaning of life. 

Purpose of Life 

We are born on this planet for a reason. Which can be anything. As we grow our purpose keeps evolving, providing more meaning to our life. We all think of purpose in many ways. 

There are people who love us unconditionally and we love them back and live for that purpose. Some want to learn, explore new things, and become able to do things that they want to do. Some live because they have a hope, and they want to see what happens next in their life. For some people, life is so joyous and pleasurable that they don’t need a reason to think purpose of their life. They are contented and enjoy themselves and that itself becomes their purpose. 

Some take life for granted like they will live forever. However, unfortunate events such as discovery of a disease and having only a few weeks or months to live can drastically change that point of view towards life. Others live as with a point of view that there is just one life, and they need to make the best of it. 

Some think they are guided by some superpower (GOD) and that’s how they set their goals for life. Others think it’s their karma that defines their experiences in life.  

It’s clear that everybody has a different definition of purpose guided by the experiences that one collects in their journey of life and the desires that one wants to fulfill. That purpose gives one the motivation to keep going forward in life. The beginning and end of life are inevitable. 

In simple words, we all want to make ourselves happy and content. 

Finding the meaning of Life 

So, as I reflect on these points, I concluded that all life forms have one essential purpose: Survive to Thrive. We have come to this world to live. Therefore, living life is a purpose in itself.  

Sadguru says, “The only real purpose of life is to explore it in its fullest depth and dimension. Your life purpose consists of the central motivating aims of your life—the reasons you get up in the morning. Purpose can guide life decisions, influence behaviour, shape goals, offer a sense of direction and create meaning. For some people, the purpose is connected to vocation—meaningful, satisfying work.” 

He continues, “Life is so enormous, that it has no meaning. If there was a meaning, the moment you found the meaning, it would be over. But you can’t finish off life like that. You write a million books about it. Still, it is ever-expanding. So there is no meaning to life. Very rudimentary minds in the world are always trying to explain life off as this or that. You can’t explain it off. Because it contains you, it is you.” 

Similarly, according to Landau, a philosophy professor at Haifa University in Israel and author of the 2017 book Finding meaning in an imperfect world said, “…people are mistaken when they feel their lives are meaningless. The error is based on their failure to recognise what does matter, instead of becoming overly focused on what they believe is missing from their existence.”  

He further wrote in the Philosopher magazine, “To my surprise, most of the people with whom I have talked about the meaning of life have told me that they did not think that their lives were meaningful enough. Many even presented their lives as outright meaningless. But I have often found the reason people gave for their reason problematic. Most of the people who complained about life’s meaninglessness even found it difficult to explain what they took the notion to mean.” 

As we see in these examples, everything that we discover is just a small aspect of life and continues to define the meaning of life. Whatever meaning we give to life, whatever definitions we assign to it, are just our notions. Life can outlive far beyond any meaning. And that’s why it’s so beautiful. 

Hence, being alive is meaning, surviving in adverse situations is meaning, and the mystery life holds every day is the meaning of life. We don’t necessarily have to define the meaning of life. Meaning of life continues to define itself as the world around us keep shifting.  

Therefore, instead of thinking of the purpose of life or how to give it meaning, we should try to live our life to the fullest. While we do that, we also must look for opportunities where we can add to the meaning of life of others, such as, the underprivileged.  

So, the question is what should one do in the immediate moment? Well, talk to people, join a club, find someone to care about, pick up a musical instrument, do whatever gives you the sense of enjoyment and content with your own life. Live in this moment …not in the past or future. Take action, do your due, spread love, this moment -right now- this is the most important moment.  

Tomorrow is not guaranteed, make today amazing. This is the purpose of life. And life will find its meaning like river finds the ocean. 

My life 

For me, it’s my family that gives meaning to my life……. Whenever I am panicked, I feel low, I feel alone, I feel isolated, I get blamed……. I do get the emotional touch of my life momentarily feeling meaningless… but in that very moment, the only light which reduces the darkness of my life is my family. My family is The purpose of my life and they define the meaning of it every moment that I live. 🙏🏻🙏🏻

None of the blogs or opinions expressed within is meant as advice to you or anybody else on any matter, including but not limited to, personal finance, health, or other matters of life. If you need advice, speak to a professional!