The Meaning and Purpose of Life

At various times in my life, I have put some effort into contemplating the big questions: What is the meaning of life?  Is there a purpose to our lives? And like everyone else who ponders this question (and is completely honest), I came away with a handful of platitudes and not much conviction.

There is meaning in the love I have for my family and friends and the times we’ve shared.  There is meaning in the work I have done.  There is meaning in the sports I have played and the hobbies I have pursued and the subjects I have studied.  There is meaning in the efforts I have made to become a better person – more generous, less judgmental, more at peace with myself and the world (still much to be done in those realms!).  There is meaning in my search for meaning.

 

As for purpose, I really struggle to come up with much at all.  A religious person would say that our purpose is to glorify God and to worship God with all of our being.  And they might add that they are also to love their neighbor as themselves.  However, amidst the disharmony of our current world, I would be surprised if most of the religious people would not find themselves choking on those words and reddening in the sheer hypocrisy of their claim.

 

I would be happy for there to be a loving higher spirit and world that is somehow tied into our lives, but I find the concept of a God whose main motivation for creating us is to be worshiped quite absurd.

 

At times I have thought rather guiltily that my purpose should be to help others and make the world a better place.  I have intermittently acted on this thought, but on balance my purpose has been much more oriented toward my own happiness, experiences and interests.  I don’t know whether this is a major character flaw or simply the way that life tends to lead us.  If there is reincarnation and I end up as an insect in the next life, then I will know the answer.

 

Luck has played a big role in my life.  I was lucky to be born in the middle class of the richest nation in a loving family with wonderful parents.  I was lucky to have gifts and talents that outweighed the challenges of health that have sometimes plagued me. I was lucky to find a partner and a host of friends that have enriched my life.  I know that not everyone is so lucky.

 

I am in the last quarter or fifth or sixth or even tenth of my life, depending on how my luck holds out.  I am not at all ready to check into the dirt hotel, as a friend likes to say.  Still, I am quite grateful for the life I have had and would not have cause to complain if my life did not extend much longer.  But this is by no means a fatalistic acquiescence in the face of health challenges.  I plan to fight like hell to live as long as I can and have as much time with my wife, children, grandchildren and friends as possible.

 

So, meaning and purpose, not totally clear, and not likely to get much clearer in the future.  Time flies and memories fade, but each new day brings new opportunities for joy, laughter and love.  And those are meaning and purpose enough.