The Meaning of Life

[Wiseacre]

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.

 

[Unkotare]

What is the meaning of life.

Yes.

 

[paravani]

Sh*t Happens...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlrGkeOzsI]Lake Peigneur sinkhole disaster - YouTube[/ame]

Can't you just imagine the telephone conversation with the engineer who miscalculated?

"Ya hear that loud sucking noise, boy? That's the sound of your career."

-- Paravani

 

[emilynghiem]

The Meaning of Life:
To understand and appreciate the beauty in everything and every person around you, the interconnected design of all elements in harmony with the greater whole, and the love and good purpose in everything in the universe.

 

[midcan5]

One of my favorite writers said it best. "You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life." Albert Camus

The meaning of life is in living, it is not in some thing we can point to or experience now for tomorrow will be different. It is the journey and thus unknown. Some questions have no answer.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

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. .

“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances without own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”

Joseph Campbell

I'll let Joe speak for me

“Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.”

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

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?

“There seem to be only two kinds of people: Those who think that metaphors are facts, and those who know that they are not facts. Those who know they are not facts are what we call “atheists,” and those who think they are facts are “religious.” Which group really gets the message?”

Joseph Campbell

“Mythology may, in a real sense, be defined as other people’s religion. And religion may, in a sense, be understood as popular misunderstanding of mythology.”

Joseph Campbell

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

1) So, can we assume that you have at least some decisions over what your life means?

2) 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?

3) 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.

4) 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.

1) Of course

2) Before I moved west, I used to visit the cemeteries where all my friends and family are buried. It was also part of a job I had for a while, but I did always like to visit for other reasons. Lost of people visit new graves. Give a few years, not so many people. A few more years, people like me would tidy uop just for something to do and to browse the lives that once graced this world.

3) Your opinion is very close to mine. I am an amalgamation of all those I have been in contact with and who I have allowed to enter my world of perception .. good and bad, for better or worse. I always try to make the world around me better. I do it because it makes me feel better to see people's reactions and to be able to pay back what good has come my way.

4) Carl Rogers

5) You have no 5 but I do. It's a confession of sorts. I am and am not really Dante. This place is and is not real. I do believe we all have much more in common than most here would admit, but it makes perfect sense. Why? We found each other and now seek each other out. How fucking cool is that? (no cognitive dissonance with me because I know who I am and what this place really is)

Dante

dD

ciao

 

[midcan5]

Sometimes I think we want an answer and thus a solution. A pathway. It is the solution that is the problem for all good and evil can come from the solution. Maybe it is better if we just keep asking?

A few months ago I lent this book to a neighbor, she died while In Cape May of a brain aneurysm. We never got to discuss meaning, but she died in a place she loved. [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Life-Very-Short-Introduction/dp/0199532176/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8]The Meaning of Life: A Very Short Introduction: Terry Eagleton: 9780199532179: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rD9TjBYAgA]The Meaning of Life - YouTube[/ame]

h[remove to watch]ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61VXSZrAdQ4

h[remove to watch]ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx1yXvcT2kw

 

[BreezeWood]

The Meaning of Life


with or without interruptions ...

does being beaten down make one a better person, would one be the same otherwise - is turmoil necessary in the meaning of life?

 

[Wiseacre]

Sometimes I think we want an answer and thus a solution. A pathway. It is the solution that is the problem for all good and evil can come from the solution. Maybe it is better if we just keep asking?

A few months ago I lent this book to a neighbor, she died while In Cape May of a brain aneurysm. We never got to discuss meaning, but she died in a place she loved. The Meaning of Life: A Very Short Introduction: Terry Eagleton: 9780199532179: Amazon.com: Books


The Meaning of Life - YouTube

h[remove to watch]ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61VXSZrAdQ4

h[remove to watch]ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx1yXvcT2kw

I ordered a copy, it'll get here in a few days. Maybe we can discuss it later.

 

[Wiseacre]

The Meaning of Life


with or without interruptions ...

does being beaten down make one a better person, would one be the same otherwise - is turmoil necessary in the meaning of life?

Do we not learn more from our mistakes and negative experiences than otherwise? If we had no failures, no pain, no sorrows, would we feel our joys, successes, good times as much?

 

[uscitizen]

I am the only one, the rest of you are just part of my dream.

 

[eots]

Sh*t Happens...

Lake Peigneur sinkhole disaster - YouTube

Can't you just imagine the telephone conversation with the engineer who miscalculated?

"Ya hear that loud sucking noise, boy? That's the sound of your career."

-- Paravani

When I was a little kiddy
My mommy she would tell me
Even the world's best laid plans
End up in the garbage can
We got a saying around our house
Your shit's in a knot, your head should me in a noose
High blood pressure and an early death
Is all it'll get you so you might as well accept that


CHORUS:

SHIT!
Happens
SHIT!
Happens
It happens, it happens
SHIT!
Happens
SHIT!
Happens
DON'T WORRY!
'cause shit will always happen


She had a little party while her parents were away
Guess she figured everything would be okay
35 skinheads and a rugby team
Drinking that liquor cabinet clean
Best friend's brother was a biker
So you hired his gang for the bouncers
Started wrecking your place so you called the cops
The cops get in your face and destroy your house you see

Chorus

I'm not sick and I'll always be like this
There's something to think about while I take a piss
I whip out my dick and I point it at the hole
I then relax and let the pressure flow
An extra stream will start to squirt
Right up in the air, and on my shirt
But I won't be mad, nor get uptight
'cause it happens like this every fuckin night

 

[wavingrl]

http://www.ashleighbrilliant.com/book9revised.htm



To be lived fully.

Find the highest ideals--perfectionism, a good thing.

Never accept less than the 'Absolute Best'.

Work for what is Good--anyway you can.

Identify --Foolishness and ignore it.

Go on your way--further and further and further, beyond what is yet known and 'proven' cough.

Sometimes --roflmao--works. Always be able to lol at yourself. You will never lack for entertainment.

Forget about being understood---'Random'--those who 'have been There' will always understand. Might not say much--but be certain that very few haven't made 'all, some, most of the mistakes' over and over again.

 

[Votto]

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.

When reading your post it reminds me of the movie city slickers. In it, Billy Crystal goes to a ranch out west in a mid life crisis as he tries to determine what the meaning of his life is all about. He runs into this cowboy who seems to have a great many answers to life and Billy asks him what the meaing of his life is. The cowboy then holds up one finger. Perplexed Billy asks what the finger represents. The cowboy responds "one thing". Billy asks what the one thing is. The cowboy retorts, "That is for you to decide".

 

[Dajjal]

What is the meaning of life? 42

 

[Dajjal]

Seriously though, I think the meaning of life is that we have experience that evolves our conciousness.
We are an immortal spirit that incarnates countless times for experience sake. We eventually acheive a state of grace, or enlightenment ,and after that we continue to evolve in a spirit world as immortals.

 

[lizzie]

I'm not sure what the *meaning of life* is, but I think it's a good idea to try to live in it, and participate in it, without letting it give you a bad attitude. Try to learn how to truly love (much easier said than done), and value yourself enough to be happy no matter what life throws your way. It's not for the faint at heart, or the weak in spirit.

 

[Mr. H.]

One of my favorite writers said it best. "You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life." Albert Camus

The meaning of life is in living, it is not in some thing we can point to or experience now for tomorrow will be different. It is the journey and thus unknown. Some questions have no answer.

My fave: "every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home".
-Matsuo Basho