As stated in our previous discussion on this subject, the search for the meaning of life shouldn't be rocket science that requires a special skill or training to find. It is simply the purpose of our existence which each of us must discover and build upon as we move on in life. Each one of us must find the meaning to his or her life because the meaning of life is actually to find meaning to life. No one else can do this for us, not even the philosophers. As our taste for meaning is different so also the meaning we find in life is different. There can be no generic meaning to life for everyone, we must each find what makes life meaningful to each of us. Interestingly, this doesn't require you to horn any special qualifications or ability. The question that life asked us is what is the meaning of life, and you can simply respond without being in error that you are the meaning of life. Life is all about what we do, and what we do is what gives life meaning. This is why there is no generic meaning to life, no two individuals think and act the same way. However, there are generic activities that can serve as a source for finding meaning in life. Such activities that we intentionally or unintentionally find ourselves engaged in can be a source of meaning and happiness in life. The simple truth is that whether you are happy or not, you already have a meaningful life.
There are three major sources of finding meaning in life which mostly involves our day-to-day activities. The meaning of life is right within us but most of us cannot see them or pay attention to them. The three major sources of meaning are (1) Love. (2) Family. (3) Work. We intend to discuss these three aspects or source of meaning to life going forward on this subject.
Love
One way to feel a sense of worthiness is through love. Love gives us a feeling of capabilities amidst our weakness and gives us the attention that we are not worthy of. The satisfaction we derived from the love and care received from our spouses and companions resides deeply in our hearts for us to find meaning in life. The only way for us to understand why love should be a source of meaning to life is to consider the challenges of loneliness. Those without anyone to hold live with a sense of shame and guilt. Loneliness gives us a clue about why love matters so much. And, loneliness as sad as it may seem shouldn't be embarrassing because it is universal. The worst of it is to feel lonely about being lonely. A feeling of self-rejection and deprivation. It is hard to know the role love plays in finding meaning to life unless one has somewhat along the way experience some bitter passage with loneliness. When alone, people may well show us kindness and uninvited touching gestures, but it will be hard to escape the burning feeling in our hearts. And such gestures good as it may seem often add to the pain already burning in our hearts so much that we may want to disappear from the earth to where no one would notice us.
The odd side of loneliness is that no one seems to understand what is going on in our minds. Even in an ordinary circle of friends, we cannot share whatever is passing through our minds because we fear our acquaintances have an understandable expectation within the circle, which must not abuse. As much as we tried to be polite and conceal the thought of our hearts, yet our feelings often won't let us. We need to be understood, but it doesn't seem like anyone cares. Some of our deepest concerns will be met with blank feelings leaving us more confused and painful. We have to accept that much of who we are won't readily be understood, so trying to get people to understand us is an effort in frustration.
All these frustrations and life-destroying aspects of single life are what love promises to correct. When in the company of a lover or spouse, we are assured of concern, care, attention almost to no limit. We are accepted more or less the way we are with no pressure to prove anything to anyone. Here our vulnerabilities and struggle to survive are extremely revealed. We can have tantrums, yawns badly, fart, and cry. We wouldn't need to be cosmetic or artificial to be accepted more or less. We will be tolerated if we are less than charming or simply vile for a time. We can share sorrows or excitement even at odd hours without being rejected and our simple turning on the bed would be of interest. It cant be any better than this when in the arms of our lover or spouse, we can be venerable and yet feel very secured.
The presence of a lover or spouse allows us to live out the way we are without swift or cynical evaluation. They give us the benefits of time as we try to present our point as understandable as we can, yet when we fail they get eager and say "go on am all ear". They help us to search out relevant details and piece together an accurate picture that calmed our searching souls. Our most fragile part of life now feels safe, then we will be grateful to this person who knows us so well and yet love us. Here we will come to know that we can still be loved without keeping most of ourselves under wraps as the world wants us to be. The feeling that erupts from here is a feeling of existence and safety of our identity. Should the world erodes us we are sure we have someone we can return to put us back together again. While been surrounded by the chill and coldness of this life will at last know that, in the arms of one extraordinary, patient and kindly being worthy of eternal gratitude, we truly matter.
The origin of love as revealed in the holy book lie in a desire to complete ourselves by finding the other half. No one is actually complete until one falls in love with a better half. Admiration then becomes the bedrock upon which true love can be found. The other half of ourselves are the capabilities that we lack, and some are created with those capabilities that can fill the void in our lives. We fall in love with people who we see has those qualities we cherished and who promise in some way to help us find a path in life. There is gratitude for finding someone who seems to complement our qualities. Not so much because they are the best, but because they have an ability that best suits our sensitive nature and are in touch with the dept of our hearts.
One of the most exhilarating parts of love is that we don't just only admire our partners, we feel drawn to them powerfully to want to possess them physically. We must first understand the role of sexuality in love, and we cannot do without the acceptance that it's not just the physical experience we are after. Sex is a major aspect of love that has a lot of delight in its idea, being allowed to do a very sacred thing with another person's body highly protected and private zone. An activity that simply means we are telling another person through our naked body that we have granted them an extraordinary privilege. It is not so much about what our bodies are doing during sex that generates the excitement we felt. But it's what is happening in our brains. The acceptance and complete submission are what make us turned on. This exercise that erupts the feelings that make the blood pumps faster, the metabolism shifts gear, the skin gets hot all lies rooted in the mind: a sense of an end to our isolation and rejection.
This can be an experience never to forget as they rest firmly in our hearts onward to the day of our death. This is a meaning to life.
