by Keith Redfern

Created on: January 27, 2010

When we search for a meaning to our life, we could well be setting ourselves upon the road to frustration.   Looking for a purpose in life, when all about us seems pointless, can be even worse.

It is very easy to find ourselves comparing our lives with those of others, and when this happens, there is a natural tendency to consider ourselves worse off than others, that their lives have more meaning than ours, and from this frustration can easily develop.

What is the meaning of life?    We are humans - animals of a sort, although particularly well gifted in the brain and imagination departments, but animals none the less.   The essential purpose of the animal kingdom, as with all plant life, is to reproduce and so continue our species.    That is our main purpose, the essential meaning to our lives.

But how many of us will be happy with that as a sole meaning?   Not many.   We have imagination, therefore we assume there must be more.   Entire religious constructs have been created on the basis that there must be more.  So what more could there be?

Is the meaning of life the same for all of us?  Is there an absolute meaning of life for all humankind?    We can only write or speak from our own point of view, based on our own life experiences, our own situation in life.   For others, we cannot really know, and we would be arrogant if we were to attempt to suggest a meaning or purpose for them.    

Would a young boy growing up in the projects of Chicago be likely to consider his purpose in life similarly to a young boy growing up in a prosperous family in, say, Westchester County, NY?   I doubt it.    Or let us consider a child orphaned by the earthquake in Haiti.   Were we impertinent enough to ask him/her: what is your purpose in life?    What sort of answer could we expect?

What is the meaning and purpose of the short life of a still born infant?    Is there any meaning, beyond unimaginable heartache for the parents, tremendous hope brought crashing down?

In some respects it is easier to consider animals in the wild.   The meaning of their lives is to form part of a food chain.    The purpose in life of a wolf cub which will grow up to be an alpha male is rather different from that of a young antelope which dies in the jaws of a hungry lioness.     

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>