Wiseacre
Retired USAF Chief
What is the meaning of life? And the meaning of your life in particular? Mankind has been wondering about that for a very long time. Many religions say that your life is pre-determined, whatever happens is God's will. Which may be, but some of those religions also say that we have choices to make, if and you make the wrong ones then salvation will not be yours. So, can we assume that you have at least some decisions over what your life means?
Leaving aside the questions of religion and salvation, I do think each of us is responsible for deciding what the meaning of our lives is, and acting accordingly. A couple hundred years from now, who's going to know or care about us or what we did? That being so, what should we be concentrating on here and now?
My opinion is that the meaning of our lives depends on the impact we've had on those we share our lives with. Making the world a better place for somebody, even one person, is not a bad place to start with. Not everyone agrees with this of course; many are more focused on self-enrichment or aggrandisement. Personally, I have no problem with this up to a point, improving your standard of living and that of your family is okay by me. So long as you are not doing so at the expense of others that is.
The other thing is more of a self-actualization thing IMHO. Trying to make yourself into a better and smarter person is not a bad thing either. Nothing wrong with a little more wisdom. How you spend the time you have is the real meaning of your life; spend it wisely.
Leaving aside the questions of religion and salvation, I do think each of us is responsible for deciding what the meaning of our lives is, and acting accordingly. A couple hundred years from now, who's going to know or care about us or what we did? That being so, what should we be concentrating on here and now?
My opinion is that the meaning of our lives depends on the impact we've had on those we share our lives with. Making the world a better place for somebody, even one person, is not a bad place to start with. Not everyone agrees with this of course; many are more focused on self-enrichment or aggrandisement. Personally, I have no problem with this up to a point, improving your standard of living and that of your family is okay by me. So long as you are not doing so at the expense of others that is.
The other thing is more of a self-actualization thing IMHO. Trying to make yourself into a better and smarter person is not a bad thing either. Nothing wrong with a little more wisdom. How you spend the time you have is the real meaning of your life; spend it wisely.