What is the Meaning of Life

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What is the Meaning of Life?

• The life we live is believed to be a creation of
  the supernatural being, God. As human beings, we
  have a certain period of time in between birth
  and death which we know as life. Under historic
  beliefs, our life has a purpose and God has
  created each one of us to fulfill a particular
  purpose. Depending on this belief, you can state
  that the fulfillment of this purpose can be named
  as the meaning of life. On the contrary, there
  are factors defying this belief. If this belief
  isnt true then what is the meaning of life?

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What is the Meaning of Life?

• Here we will discuss the meaning of life with the
  help of some theories and philosophical
  statements. You may or may not agree with what we
  discuss here. Keeping everything else aside, you
  must read for once. Even though this is a
  debatable topic, you dont have to agree to
  everything described over here. There are certain
  things that might cross your mind when you go
  through this article. If you find something
  relatable then, you might also learn a bit more
  about the meaning of life.

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Three Questions Related to What Is the Meaning of
Life?

• You should always have questions in your mind to
  live a healthy life. Yes, questions will keep the
  doors of knowledge open in your mind. If you
  dont have any questions left to be answered then
  you have lived your life. The urge to learn and
  know more is fueled by questions. When you have
  questions, you search for the answers to them.
  Here are the three questions which you should ask
  yourself throughout your life until you get the
  answers.

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1. What Is My Potential?

• The first thing to ask yourself is what your true
  potential is. This question is important because
  it will help you become something in the future.
  Each and every human being has some potential in
  them. A lot of us get a hold on it at an early
  stage while others take some more time to know
  their true potential. If you know what is your
  true potential then start acting on it. Work hard
  and develop skills so that you are sure about
  your future goals.

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2. What Is Important to Me?

• Another question you need to ask yourself is what
  is important to you? To know the true meaning of
  life, you need to know what is important to you
  in life. What is the meaning of life can only be
  answered when the other questions achieve their
  true answers. Most of us depend on our parents,
  guardians, and teachers to point out what is
  important to us. It is you who needs to decide
  what is important to you as it is your life. No
  one has the right to tell you what is important
  to you. It might seem important to them so they
  tell you but do you find it important?
• The things you should actually give importance
  has to be the things you value the most. Stop
  relying on your friends and family. You need to
  question yourself about what is more important to
  you in life. Is it money and luxurious life? Is
  it the love, care, and affection of your dear
  ones? What is it?

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3. What Am I Truly Good at?

• To know the true meaning of your life you must
  know what you are good at. The things which help
  you grow, focus and you enjoy the most. These
  things are the ones that will help you flourish
  in life. It is just one life and you truly need
  to understand what matters to you the most. You
  can be good at anything which later on turns out
  to be your talent, lifetime asset and adds value
  to your life. All this is only worthy when it
  contributes to make the world a better place. You
  are a part of this world and you have a
  responsibility towards it too. Your creativity,
  intelligence, smartness, ability to perform tasks
  will obviously help you grow but it needs to
  contribute to the world as well.

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Philosophical Approach towards What is the
Meaning of Life?

• There are various approaches in philosophy to
  answer this question but for you to understand
  with ease, only a few have been used here. For
  instance, the question regarding the meaning of
  life is pretty illogical because while we are
  living life, we cannot judge it. You just cannot
  say whether your life matters to you or not as
  you are living it. On the contrary, you cannot
  opt-out to learn about its importance because it
  is impossible. This theory has been established
  by Friedrich Nietzsche, a 19th-century
  philosopher.
• Another theory presented by Thaddeus Metz, states
  that there are four distinct groups. This theory
  was published in the Stanford Dictionary of
  Philosophy. Among the four groups, there is a
  group of people who believe in god and worship a
  deity. According to them, the god will show them
  their purpose of existence which will ultimately
  lead them towards the true meaning of their
  lives. Another group relies on their soul.
  According to them, the soul lives even after the
  body decomposes and through the souls existence
  they get to know the meaning of life.
• Apart from these two groups, there are two more
  groups of naturalists. These people rely on the
  physical world and the theories of science but
  they too have a difference in opinion. This, in
  turn, divides them into the subjectivist and
  objectivist. According to subjectivist, life is
  meaningful and who we are or where we vary with
  every situation. The value of life depends on us
  and can change with the change in time and
  situations. Landau states that the meaning of
  life is a sense of worth that can derive from
  creativity, achievements, and relationships, the
  objectivist has a different point of view. To
  them, there are certain truths with values. For
  instance, there is a purpose in creativity
  according to objectivist but others think virtue
  serves as the mean to live.

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How to Reframe Your Mindset?

• Again coming back to Landau, a theory states that
  if you are feeling purposeless in life then you
  need to reconsider. You will only get to learn
  what is the meaning of life when you the purpose
  of your existence. One must have a purpose to
  live a happy and healthy life. He states that a
  meaningful life means a life with good number of
  aspects of values. On the other hand, he also
  defines a meaningless life as a life with lack of
  sufficient aspects of values. The very simple
  explanation to Landaus theory is that being
  meaningful is like an equation.
• You can add up to it, subtract it, multiply it
  and divide it. This leads to a sense of
  purposelessness which is caused due to lack of
  achievements in your personal as well as
  professional life. You can derive theoretical
  meanings from this in terms of relationships,
  creativity, travel, etc. However you perceive
  this factor, you need to reconsider your life and
  all the factors related to it. Once you change
  your way of approach towards life, everything
  else will fall in line with you.
• You need to focus on three main keywords,
  initiative, consistency and development. You
  first need to take an initiative to change the
  course of your life. Next, you need to be
  consistent with your goals. Finally, development
  is the source of all forms of growth so you need
  to develop yourself. Developing oneself means
  developing in all sectors of life which are
  personal relationships, professional goals, and
  future initiatives. Your life will eventually set
  onto a new path once you reframe your mindset.

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Your Existence Matters

• What is the purpose of your existence is known to
  no anyone, not even to you. This doesnt mean at
  any given point of time that your existence
  doesnt matter. Your existence matters, if not to
  anyone then to you. You exist because there is a
  purpose in life to fulfill and you will
  eventually do it too. For the sole purpose of
  living a life and fulfilling your
  responsibilities is your cause of existence. A
  very interesting statement was made by Tim Bale,
  Politics Professor at the Queen Mary University
  of London, the UK in Philosophy Now, which was
  The meaning of life is not being dead..
• In addition to this, Philosopher Richard Taylor
  also stated that The day was sufficient to
  itself, and so was the life. which in simple
  terms means as you live, your life matters. You
  might be in a dilemma but life always has
  way-outs and you just need to figure them out.
  Contradicting theories suggest that, when
  compared to the vast universe, our life is just a
  moment. Even so, you must not forget that every
  moment has its own beauty and it does matter.

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Mystery in Meaning of Life

• Before asking what is the meaning of life, you
  must learn about the mystery in it. Why do you
  search for the meaning of life? What do you
  expect as an answer to it? What will you do when
  you get to know about the meaning of life? And
  what if the answer doesnt match up to your
  expectations? Will you give up on life? Well,
  with so many questions to answer, let us go one
  by one.
• Firstly, the search for the true meaning of life
  is eternal. You might get the answer or you might
  not. Even if you get the answer you may be
  pleased with it or maybe not. All the situations
  are hypothetical and depend on time. Under the
  circumstances they occur is very important for
  you. Secondly, what you expect might not be what
  it ultimately turns out to be. It is better to
  expect nothing and what you finally get should be
  accepted as a blessing.
• Thirdly, the revelation of the meaning of life
  happens in the process of life. You dont have to
  search for it. You will get to know when the
  right time arrives. Though this theory is very
  much philosophical, a lot of us believe in it. In
  scientific terms, your existence has its own
  values and the values define your life. Fourthly
  and finally, giving up on life will not fetch you
  the answer you are searching for. It is in the
  process of life that you might learn about the
  true meaning of existence.

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Answer to the Ultimate Question

• The question, What is the meaning of life? does
  has an answer. Alternative approaches have
  theories to verify this statement. A philosophy
  professor at Coastal Carolina University in South
  Carolina, Casey Woodling states that the question
  itself has an answer. He quotes, What makes a
  human life have meaning or significance is not
  the mere living of a life, but reflecting on the
  living of a life. According to Woodling,
  pursuing goals in terms of family, profession,
  fitness, academics, financial status, etc doesnt
  serve as the meaning to life.
• The meaning lies in why we pursue these goals in
  our life. It has a significant effect on our life
  and that is why we pursue these goals. This
  theory also reflects the statement of Socrates,
  The unexamined life is not worth living. Hence,
  Casey states that a life unexamined has no value
  or virtue.

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Final thoughts

• To conclude, it can be mentioned that the true
  meaning of life lies in it only. You will get to
  know when you live your life to the fullest.
  There are many more philosophical, scientific and
  religious concepts to defy and support such
  theories. What matters the most is how you wish
  to live your life. Is your worth living must not
  be your concern. Whether you live your life with
  all your effort or not must be your true concern.
  What you have earned from life is an asset but
  how you have earned it is the experience of a
  lifetime.
• In life, you will come across many situations
  that might lead you to the point to question your
  existence. Remember that you have this one life
  and the meaning of life lies within it. You must
  love yourself and live your life to the fullest.
  Only then, you may learn the true meaning of
  life.