And check out the great books and authors that elaborated on the idea: Summa Theologica, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, The ?Quoran, The Bible, Jean Paul Sarte, Socrates, Paulo Cohello, Donald Trump.
Okay, I arbitarily inserted up that last name.
But seriously. You never realized you were in the company of such eminence! Give yourself a pat on the back, Mr. Philosopher.
Stop, and consider how, after all that rheotoric, prose, and giddy exhortation, few of these dissertations truly arrived at some enlightening, jaw dropping Meaning of Life that literally gave you the golden answer to your personal existence. (people still keep searching!)
And Life, well? life just kept lifing along. nu ni nu ni nu
Step outside for a moment. Just humor me on this.
What do you see. Really drink in the detail now.
Okay. There's a car passing by. Or maybe a tree with some bird poop on it. A cat (hopefully white) passing the street. Oh look! A dog spilling your garbage for you to clean up later!
What did they have in common?
Nothing.
Check again.
Okay? Nothing. Just a bunch of disjointed events.
But one of you might say, ?ah I disagree. What I saw was a spirited sports car driver showing off to his girlfriend and experiencing a thrill burning gas and polluting the environment.?
Ah. Sounds like you just gave meaning to some meaningless event.
Or another would say ?Man, that dog is out to get me. He spills trash everyday so I have to clean it up?
Oho! Looks like you colored some other event with yet more meaning.
What am I driving at?
Brace yourself.
Here's the cold hard truth: every event on this planet is meaningless.
Got that?
Life is meaningless. In fact, life has no purpose, no rhyme, no reason. Your life, my life, everyone's life is empty and meaningless- a void existence formed from an infinite strand of disjointed events that branches out into infinite possibilities based on decisions made every moment.
Squirming? Hear me out.
Take yourself out of the Life equation. Just blink out of existence. Stop. Ponder this: do you think Existence, Destiny, The Universe would suddenly weep and grind to a halt? No way! Life just goes on?.. lifing along.
This is the meaning to life: that LIFE IS MEANINGLESS. With or without us, reality endures. But what gives all this some iota of value is that we give it significance. We give it subjective meaning.
You, I and everyone are simply Meaning-Making-Machines that ascribe meaning to what we observe around us.
Got that? Life is empty and meaningless AND everyone is a Meaning Making Machine. That's the ultimate formula to life.
There is no meaning to the car rushing down the road, to the ferry crossing the channel, to the rocket landing on the moon, to George Bush taking a dump on the royal throne.
There is no inherent meaning to your trudging to work, eking out a living, raising a kid and throwing dishes at your spouse.
These are all events. Random events with no inherent meaning.
I bet you want to strangle me now. Or jump a bridge. After all, if life has no meaning, what's the point of suffering through it (ah! another meaning)
But let me finish. Put away that .45
So? what's the point to all this? To life? To these empty events?
Remember what I said earlier?
You are a Meaning Making Machine.
and Life is Empty and Meaningless.
Ask yourself:
What do you do when something is empty? YOU FILL IT UP!
Since you are a meaning-making-machine, you have the mandate to forge your own personal meaning out of all these meaningless events. Simply fill life up with a meaning that is so powerful, so inspiring that you simply must bound out of bed every morning.
It's that simple. Life is inherently empty, but YOU have the Power to give it meaning.
And do you already realize what kind of power that is? You suddenly open up a whole new world of possibilities!
Think about that.
Did you once think that because you got fired, lost your wife, or got mugged, that life is cruel and demonic?
Or did you think that because you won a million bucks at the lottery that God out there must love only you?
NO!! NO!! NO!! Life is not inherently cruel and demonic. Nor does God favor you any more than the average Joe.
These are rich meanings you ascribed to life simply because of random events.
But wow? how those arbitrary meanings shape your future for all eternity.
Think of how a rape victim would live the next 20 years. ?It's hell. Every man is a monster?
Or imagine how Kiyosaki arises every morning. ?Life is great! I earned $200000 more in royalties today?
Get what I'm driving at.
Life Is Empty and Meaningless, but You Have to Power to Give it Meaning.
Positive or Negative.
And how you choose to view life shapes the rest of your fleeting existence on this planet. You literally wield near God-like powers to reinvent your tenure on this world. Did you realize that?
It all depends on the Meaning Life Has For You.
And the best thing about it is: You Chose That Meaning.
The Meaning Of Life
Hedonism is a lifestyle of self-indulgence for one's own pleasure. On its face, it seems pretty good. But what if my pleasure is using your swimming pool ? or your wife ? or eating your dog (or your wife)? In the realm of hedonism, this is all perfectly acceptable, and demonstrates that hedonism, paradoxically, cannot exist in paradise. While there is a basal appeal in the illusion of hedonism, it is simply a violent battlefield waiting to happen. Moreover, the more we indulge ourselves, the more unsatisfied and depressed we become.
You've probably heard the expression, "It is better to give than receive," and we've all experienced the profound joy in serving others. Giving provides a sense of fulfillment and meaning that is unattainable from getting. The greater the need we fill by giving, the greater the joy and sense of purpose derived. Try it for yourself and you will begin to see that service to others is the very meaning of life.
Self-help gurus talk about how to improve this aspect or that aspect of your life but completely overlook that the ultimate self-help has nothing whatsoever to do with the self. It has everything to do with others. Service to others is, perhaps, the antithesis of both traditional and New Age self-help methodologies, but it is the only ticket to the happy life we really seek. Depression is a widespread affliction in societies that glamorize those who serve the self, and the way out of depression rarely involves self-serving therapists.
While modern society paints distorted images of reality, the truth remains that the more we do for others the more connectedness we feel and the more valuable we are. For openers, try implementing "The Golden Rule." That is, treat all others as you would like all others to treat you. All others means all others, whether they have two legs, four legs or 100 legs; be they black, white or purple. Extend your circle of service to include people and animals. In fact, and quite contrary to most societies, service to animals is the very crux of the meaning of human life. Humans have dominion over animals, but this is not a license to use and abuse them, it is a responsibility to care for them.
You must take some time for yourself to pursue things you enjoy, but to fulfill the purpose and meaning of our lives we must serve others. Implement service to others as an art-form and find ways to achieve not perfection but excellence in the art. You will be welcomed at the gates of paradise when you realize that doing things for your own good is not how you should live. Yes, you will find you have done yourself a great favor, but, ironically, not the reason to do them.
Both Joseph Plazo & Jeff Popick are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Joseph Plazo has sinced written about articles on various topics from Forex Market, Adsense and Cars. More of Joseph Plazo's killer articles: Art of Unstoppable , Sneaky
10 Best Jobs In America You will also find letters by Van Gogh and certain work done by his friends
