For some, questions like these encourage us to philosophize and investigate life further. For most, unfortunately, this question leads to suffering.
By the way: what is suffering?
There are many different definitions of suffering. I believe suffering to mean: "to feel pain in exchange for no positive benefit". In other words lifting weights and running a marathon might be difficult but in no way is it suffering.
But this is precisely what the above questions leads to..
The reason this question is suffering is because it has no possible answer. Ruminating on this question is the equivalent of trying to count an infinite amount of cards.
By the way, I am in no way discounting personal beliefs. One of the things I believe in is that having beliefs is a good thing, especially when the belief is firm enough that is does not lead one to oppress others.
You see, the "meaning of life" is quite a fascinating and profound question. One might say that it is the "question of questions".
In modern times, this question has even brought upon entire literary movements like "existentialism" which basically answered the meaning of life question by saying that there is "no meaning of life." (a little simplified)
What I always found interesting was that this "existentialism" movement was formed in the 19'th century?
Why is that? Why did it take so long to answer this kind of question?
The answer, I believe is because existentialism is a luxury. In other words, you have to be doing pretty damn good in life to be an existentialist. You see, people who are working their butt off and hustling to stay alive and feed their families have no time to entertain such vague concepts.
In fact, what would happen if a farmer or a serf spent time thinking about existentialism? What would most likely happen is that he would experience the state of depression and significantly decrease his productivity. Depending on which period he lived in, this type of dip in productivity could lead to starvation, death, or serious consequences.
You see, before the 19'th century we humans weren't able to enjoy such mental masturbation.
But I digress, because I do believe that there is an answer to the "question of questions".
The answer is that the meaning of life is about creating value for others.
Yes, at first this seems like a cop out and cliche. However, I believe we can find some more substance if we delve deeply into it.
You see, while we can only hypothesize (aka: believe) about what happens to us after death, certain things in the world are confirmed.
For example, you do not have to have a certain religious belief to recognize that people are starving and dying of AIDS and other diseases.
What is also true is that these people are feeling this pain on a physical and emotional level. In other words, these people do not have the luxury of becoming philosophical about their problems as they are actively suffering them.
Of course I use these examples because they are graphic. Indeed, there are people suffering from both psychological and emotional issues both on our continent and in other countries.
To be clear, I make a strong distinction between victimization and plight. In other words, there ARE people that can not take care of themselves and who have physical or psychological diseases. There are also people who should get off their ass and get themselves a job. I'm not trying to take a stand on either of these issues.
I'm also not implying explicitly or implicitly that you "should" help these people or helping anyone at all. I am not more righteous than thou.
What I am implying is that there is something special about creating value.
Creating value is not only for the individuals who are benefiting but it is also about helping ourselves.
In fact, if I should say so myself, I believe that creating value for others can give one an untouchable confidence. Who the hell cares what someone in the audience said when you just saved 5 people from cancer? That sh*t is untouchable, and is really potent.
In recent years, thanks to the great author Neil Fiore, I have become quite conscious of how I focus my energy. Is it inward is it outward? Is it based on negatively and self pity or is it based on action and overall ballerness?
I have noticed that amongst my role models there exists a paradoxical belief system. That belief is that 1) There are many issues in the World 2) Much can be done and millions can be helped. This is akin to how soldiers are trained to be "awake in the battlefield". Fully focused, aware, and resourceful.
Again and again, I see the people that get the positive results (both in for profit and non profit situations) are those that take action and focus their attention on that which can be fixed rather than those who sit and lament negative circumstance.
Dedicated to the furriest member in our family, Reggie Weisburd, RIP.
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