What is the meaning of life?

[Cuthien, Wolf-maiden]

Yeah, you can't physically prove the existence of God; He's a matter of faith.  (Much like Creaton vs. evolution-no one was there.)  But I feel as if my life has purpose.

[x~x..cheese+beef..x~x]

if people say that the purpose of life is God and whatever those Christian peoples say....then isn't that saying that people who don't believe in God or serve him have no purpose in life and are just here with no purpose and no meaning 

I think the meaning and purpose of life is to just live and have a good time doing it...do you want...be nice to other people...don't be a criminal..er...and just be free as a bird

[Cuthien, Wolf-maiden]

No, everyone's life has meaning.  We're all someones, not somethings.
.

[Tellyn]

The meaning of life is to live it and find out.

[Cuthien, Wolf-maiden]

You mean for each of us?

[Humiliated]

The meaning of life is to live it and find out.

I agree with that.

I think the meaning of life is to love, to live every emotion you are given. To go through experiences and live it to the full.

[Vevian]

Man, I haven't posted on this topic in over a year but, much to my surprise, my posting is still there on page 4 (or was it 5).  So I just spent a very long time reading all 22 pages and I have seen a lot of themes repeated, the most popular being 42.
   Other popular ones are:
To live
To be happy
To reproduce
To help others
To fulfill yourself or live for yourself

I was just reading from my favorite website (www.boundless.com) where you can find articles on everything from the meaning of life to buying a new house.   Here is an interesting excerpt from a book review about the different kind of seekers out there.

"Although seeking is in vogue today, Guinness sees a big difference between true and false seekers. False seekers just don’t want to be attached to anything. True seekers, he says, are looking for real answers. Here’s how he describes real seekers:


On meeting them you feel their seriousness, their driven restlessness. . . . Seekers are people for whom life, or a part of life, has become a point of wonder, a question, a problem, an irritation. It happens so intensely, so persistently, that a sense of need consumes them and launches them on their quest.
Now comes the tough part: the answers. Anyone can raise questions, but today, suggesting answers is akin to walking a minefield. Doubts lay buried underfoot, waiting to explode the arrogant and the naïve. Skepticism is one of the chief marks of our poets. “There isn’t any answer to the question,” sings Sinead O’Connor. “Don’t bother with anyone who says there is.” “There ain’t no real truth,” croons Richard Ashcroft, “we have existence and it’s all we share.” http://www.boundless.org/2001/departments/pages/a0000609.html

So, I wonder.  What kind of seeker do you think yourself to be.  Actually, I wouldn't label myself as a seeker at all because I actually think that I know what the meaning of life is (how about that for ego!  ).

If you would like to read more articles on the meaning of life here is a webpage that will allow you to explore some opinions.
http://search.family.org/query.cfm?style=boundless&siteRef=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boundless.org&qt=meaning+of+life

[Humiliated]

I agree Vevian. That's very interesting what you've posted.

I think I am a seeker to be quite honest. I always have been. I find myself seeking the answer in every part of my life. Love life, friends, family; everything.
I don't know what the answer is to the meaning of life. But I believe that there is one. And one day in one way or another, each of us will find it, in any shape or form.

The meaning of life.. Is a tricky question - To me it is.

I think we all have to find our own way's in life and thus seek the meaning ourselves. Not be told it by someone else.

Everyone is different, aren't they? So the answer surely cannot be the same for everyone or is it?

Perhaps it is.

[Cuthien, Wolf-maiden]

I think the answer is the same for all of us.  It's that everyone has a purpose and every life will play a part in the grand scheme of things.  (I have, by the way, found my answer.  But, unless asked via PM, I won't post my belief in detail so I can avoid others harping on me because of it.)  Anyway, I think that the seeking consists of finding how we play a part, and what part is ours.  And we have to help others.  Not to look good, or earn our way to heaven (which is impossible).  But to help others for them.  To be a friend for your friends, not just so you won't be lonely.  Today, my senior class visited and worked at a rescue mission.  So many men and women there, all seeking an answer, a solution, which many of them have found.  (It was awesome to work there, by the way.)  But the bottom line is, deep down you always wonder:  Am I doing this for others (or God), or really just for myself? 

[Blaen]

I think the meaning of life is to find purpose. As long as you find a purpose in life then you also having meaning.

[Cuthien, Wolf-maiden]

Yeah, but do you ever think that the purpose of life is to serve others, and not just yourself?

[Tellyn]

THE STATION
By Robert J Hastings

Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision.
We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent
We are travelling by trains.  Out of the windows we drink
in the passing scene of cars on highways, or children
waving at a passing crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of
smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and
wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides
of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our mind is the final destination.
On a certain day at a certain hour, we will pull into the station.
Bands will be playing and flags waving.  Once we get there so may
wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will
fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle.  How restlessly we pace
the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering, waiting, waiting
waiting for the station.

‘When we reach the station, that will be it! We cry!
‘When I’m 18.’  ‘When I buy the new 450SLMercedes Benz!’
‘When I put the last kid through college.’  ‘When I have paid off the
mortgage!’  ‘When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever
after!’

Sooner or later we must realise that there is no station, no one
place to arrive at once and for all.  The true joy of life is the trip.
The station is only a dream.  It constantly outdistances us.

‘Relish the moment’ is a good motto, especially when coupled
with Psalm 118:24 ‘This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice
and be glad in it.’  It is the regrets over yesterday
and the fear of tomorrow.  Regret and fear are twin thieves that
rob us of today.

So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles.
Climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often,
Forge more,
watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less.
life must be lived as we go along.  The station will come soon enough.


I think this poem hits the nail on the head.

[andonewhitetree]

Surely life only has a meaning if you believe that the World was created by God and that we were put here for a purpose, whatever that may be.  If you believe that the Earth was createde by a sceientific bang or whatevre then aren't we all just a freak accident and therefore have no definite purpose?

[Tellyn]

We can't just be an accident!  Even though I am not religious, never have been, there has to be a reason why everything on planet earth survived, and not on other planets.  Because there WAS life on Mars, some microorganisms were found a few years ago in fossils.  I don't think it has anything to do with atmosphere 9although it does keep us alive) we do have a purpose.  Maybe our lives might just be recycled, the concept of reincarnation?  Our life forces might just be used over and over, and time reverses in our mind, so that we live our lives over and over.  We could have already lived our life, been born and died, seventy million times already!  Which would explain deja vu.  Some people might be stuck in the same time period, so the time pattern stays the same for them, but maybe there are alternate universes going on in seperate peoples minds?  please tell me if that made sense, but read it thoroughly before answering.

[andonewhitetree]

why cant we just be an accident?  There are reactions going off in space all the time.  Maybe other life forms have been created by these.  Maybe we all survived because everything was in the right place and time and sync.

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