What is the meaning of life?  The answer is simpler than you think.  Actually, everything is pretty simple when you lay it bare, but it’s because we layer it with our beliefs, cultures, and biases that we lose the essence of the question. When answers are convoluted and hard to grasp, they are not the true answers because we have made them into something they are not.  Everything I will lay before you is easy to follow and not incredibly earth-shattering, but they will inevitably change your mindset, and that is exactly what I’m setting out to do.  When we start to strip away all these things that have propelled us into modern-day living, we start to see again what we did when we were children.  Children are free from self-doubt and the social rules of life.  They can accept what is and isn’t there because that is what they see.  And yet, we as adults think we know more than them because we can see the man behind the curtain.  When we think this, we lose the ability to see with fresh and innocent eyes.

I’ve been listening to audio books lately when I’m at work and just recently finished The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which prompts the question of what is the meaning of life?  The quintessential question of our lives.  Why is this particular question so important?  Is it important? We want to know why we were created.  For a long time, I’ve known the general answer and in reality, most people do.  The answer is that we are alive and not dead.  When we are alive, we must make the best of what we have and live our lives to the fullest.  That means finding joy and happiness where we can.  How do we  become happy?  Through gratitude.  You must find gratitude for all the good things that have happened to you and especially the bad things.  We should not rejoice in the bad things, but choose to be grateful because these traumatic events have shaped us into who we are.  When you choose to be grateful for all the things in your life, you can gain happiness. That is the meaning, but not our purpose in life.  That is another question altogether.  As all living things, we were created to live, but this does not make us feel alive.  We want to know why.

Lately, death has been on my mind.  As a child, I never really took time to think about it, but now, the weight of it looms on the horizon before I fall asleep.  The finality of death and what comes after haunts my dreams.  No one knows what happens after death and if anyone purports to, you should be wary of them.  Despite what your beliefs are in reincarnation or heaven, death means you will never be the person you are in this life with the people that you know again.  This incarnation of you will only exist once.  We are fearful of death, but death is what gives our lives meaning.  Without death, our lives would stretch out into infinity and everything would become mundane.  With death, we know there is an ending.  We can learn to appreciate every day because we know death will come for us all.  It is in death that we come to value our lives.  Death is inevitable, but instead of fearing it, we should acknowledge our limited time on this earth, for all we can be is happy, for the dead can’t feel anything, only the living can.

Now you know the meaning of life, but you still want to know why.  You want to be fulfilled.  You can pursue happiness, but it doesn’t always guarantee that you will be fulfilled.  Our purpose is to help those around us live better lives so we may all work towards the common goal of reaching the zenith of who we can become as humans.  You can know the meaning of life and be happy, but the only way you can be fulfilled is to help someone else, for our life has no meaning if we cannot be of use.  Everyone’s purpose is unique and it is up to you to figure it out.  To find it, you must also find your voice and your belief in yourself.  You are best equipped to help others when you know exactly who you are and what you want in this life.  Remember, it is a short one, so make sure you are asking yourself the right questions.