Meaning Of Life Essay, Research Paper

Is there a meaning to life? First, to clear up any misunderstandings in the next

few paragraphs you are about to read, I shall explain a few things. I am not

talking about the individual people in our lives, that mean so much to us, or

individual lives. That is a whole other matter. What I mean by the "meaning

of life", is the greater picture. There are people all over the world,

doing their own thing, living their own lives, in their own areas. Is there a

point to this? The people themselves, benefit from learning and having

experiences while they’re alive, but then they die, and all they have

accomplished, ends. Then the process begins all over again with the next

generation. So one purpose for life is established. We are here to reproduce. It

has been genetically coded into us, and with little prompting, we continue to

produce tiny versions of ourselves. But, is there a POINT to this? Well, I

solemnly believe not. Some people say the point of life, is to have fun and make

others happy. Righto then. Sure, that’s a good thing to do, I don’t disagree

with that. But in terms of the big picture, what does it exactly accomplish? A

person lives their life, has fun, and perhaps has the knack of making lots of

other people happy in the process, then that person dies. And so eventually, do

all the other people they brought happiness to. And through different

generations come people who have the same philosophy….same thing, just

happening later in time, with different people. Nothing has been

accomplished…So, this obviously cannot be the point of life, unless it’s

inventor has the same intellect as that of pond scum. I would like to think

otherwise, so I am interested in finding another answer. Other people believe

that God is the point of life. God gives us a booklet of rules and regulations,

for us to be eligible to receive his personal ‘attention’. We respect his wishes

and act accordingly, as to how we believe he would like us to act. Then, it is

thought, he looks after us and takes care of us. I find this theory hard to

grasp…God, usually, is seen as this great celestial being, that is far more

advanced and powerful than any person here on Earth. He has these ‘talents’ and

powers by simply…not being one of us. So, there’s God….Way up there, looking

down upon us. Earth must seem like a little ant farm to him. If he’s up there,

looking down and watching over us, how is it so many horrible things happen in

the world? Some of you may say it’s because the people that these things

happened to, weren’t behaving how they should have been, how God would have

liked them to. Or that God allows us to make choices, good or bad. Ok, then that

would mean to me that God is an unforgiving and unsympathetic, celestial meanie.

Why should he watch us create misery, see wars break out, while he remains

aloof, superior and more powerful than us? I say that’s unfair. Perhaps one

reason for him would be, because it’s more ‘fun’ to us be so ‘handicapped’ in

the celestial scheme of things. It provides more entertainment, more adventure,

and it’s harder. And because it’s harder, he knows there will be more rewards

for us when we succeed in being "good". Something is obviously amiss

with this plan, since we continue to do the same things over and over again

through the generations, and centuries. We just do not learn this particular

philosophy of his. Perhaps he could have let us work the controls? Do you think

God has been GOOD at it? Heck no. Look at the world’s history…It hasn’t

exactly been a bed full of roses. Sure, God tried. But while the footy game was

on tv, he forgot to cut some of the thorns off the roses when he was preparing

Earth’s future. You reckon we could do any worse? I don’t think so. Seems to me

we’d all have just as much luck, even more so, at running a world, than God

would. Even if God really was this powerful, wise, kind and forgiving fellow,

why is he running a world? He obviously hasn’t succeeded in achieving much.

Humanity hasn’t made any real accomplishments (I’m not talking technology…I’m

talking about discovering anything that would lead us to understanding why we

are here at all). What’s in it for him, to be our celestial babysitter? Is it to

see the reward of us succeeding, and being ‘at one’ with ourselves? If that was

it, then when will somebody please explain to him that that’s impossible, unless

he renders us all as vegetables. Humans have been given a mind that allows us to

think, to ponder, to contemplate. If we are in a thinking state, don’t you think

SOMETHING will come across our minds, in the period of existing and experiencing

that will trigger off a thought of not being, so ‘pleased-as-punch’ with

ourselves? Highly likely, I would say. Maybe God wants us to ‘learn’ from our

mistakes, and that is the challenge/point of life? If that’s the case, God is

not as wise as we all thought. The lucky people that do learn their important

lessons through life, all inevitably die, and so too, does their knowledge and

experiences. Ah, but what about history text, you say. I don’t know about you,

but I’ve noticed that we, as a people, tend to only ‘really’ understand the

importance of lessons until we’ve learnt them ourselves. First generation

learns, profits from that information, then dies. Second generation, does the

same thing. Nothing gained in the big picture there. You might say the answer to

this ‘going around the mulberry bush’, might be for the young people to simply

take heed of what their elders say, no questions asked. That would take away the

time period of the second generation re-living what the first did, but then

you’d have a bunch of experience-less people, with no curiosity or incentive of

their own. That’s no good. It would be even more worse that what’s going on now.

At least now, we experience and learn for ourselves, instead of simply doing

what we’ve been told is the ‘right thing to do’. Even if we did learn from our

mistakes through the generations, there’s only so many mistakes to be made on a

personal level. Then what? Will God wipe our slates clean anyway, as if we had

died and lost all our knowledge? Or do we get a whole new set of things we must

learn? If those were out options, I would strongly propose that we barge into

God’s office and tie him up. Let us work the controls for a while, eh? Another

popular belief to the reason of life, is to ‘find yourself’. This one, I find

particularly amusing. If the point in life, is to ‘find’ ones self, what has one

been doing until this point in time? ‘Not knowing’ ones self? Pretty

impossible…It’s the first thing anyone learns. After that has been

accomplished, we then find it a bit easier to interract with others, and

understand them. For someone to tell me that they’ve only just ‘discovered’

themself, I tend to wonder what exactly they’ve been doing for all the years

they’ve been around.. I understand that people, all of a sudden, can recognize a

new side to themselves. It was always there though, they just weren’t giving it

much thought and/or priority to understanding it. Besides, even if people really

did all of a sudden, ‘discover’ themselves, how is THAT the point of life?

Perhaps it may be a significant development in their life, but that’s not the

point to LIFE, as in the big picture. You know…. existence, filled with so

many other people. If everyone understood the point to life as being born,

living, discovering their self, then dying, isn’t that a rather arrogant and

self-centered pointless world? I think it would be. I do not wish my opinions to

shout out at people, ‘THERE IS NO POINT….DIG YOURSELF A HOLE AS SOON AS

POSSIBLE’. Killing yourself, you see, is equally as pointless as life (if anyone

thinks of any new theories, please let me know). Don’t be depressed, I have not

been talking about ‘life as we live it’. That, is completely different, more

relevant and more meaningful. It is important to live (we have no other option),

to hopefully enjoy the ride, and also interract positively with others that are

doing the same thing. Other people, bring new perspectives and ideas into your

mind. New influences, ideas and experiences that cause us to learn and become

more rounded and hopefully less arrogant and ignorant. We never know what will

happen next. Everything is brand new to us, until after we have experienced it.

We can’t predict exactly what will happen, when, where and why. That’s what

makes it rather fun, living day to day like that. Even though I believe life to

be ultimately pointless, we are existing whether we like it or not. Because we

really have no say in the matter, or choice about what ‘being’ (celestial,

human, critter, algae etc) we get to be, to ‘play the game’, we really should

find some way to reach happiness. However you may define happiness. Perhaps it’s

being alone and secluded from the world? That would actually be even more

pointless, but….I have no say in the matter, and if that’s what makes you

happy, that’s the best thing you can do. For most of us though, we enjoy

interracting with others, and receiving input other than our own. So there is a

point to day to day life, and that will have to be enough, until a true reason

for life has been established and you get to play a part in it. Happiness, is

all we have at the moment to strive towards. So, cling on to it! Once you reach

a state of happiness, enjoy it, and share it with everyone you know. Who knows,

they may be long over due! Love is the secret of happiness and is the most

important element in our existence. Giving our love to others, always comes back

to us. Perhaps not in the way we expect, but it comes back in a way that will

make our lives richer and more meaningful. Love has a power to connect us with

other people and allows us to be the best we can be. And then there’s love for

the animals, a beautiful sunset, and, of course, love for the world we live in

(who knows, maybe if we all felt love for the world we live in at the same time,

something exciting ‘might’ happen. Aw well…) Is it better to be ignorant, or

intelligent, when the realization hits that life is virtually meaningless?

Perhaps it would be better to be a dog, oblivious to the concept of a meaning to

life (I’m not talking about them giving love to their owners…but the bigger

picture). Would you prefer to know there was no big plan, and have your bubble

burst, or would it be better for you not to know at all? I say, it’s better to

know. Then, you can get on with doing other things. You might say it makes no

difference, but with intellect, you have the capacity to do different, and more

challenging things with the understanding that you stand alone in this world,

unique and irreplacable. I hope I have not upset anyone terribly with my

thoughts on the matter. I am comfortable with my conclusions, am happy with my

life, and do not need counselling. *indignant* There is a point to day to day

life, but with the ‘big-picture’ major faults and queries just jump out at me.

Perhaps a little disappointed at the lack of celestial preparation, but….