What is the meaning of life? Life’s meaning does not need to be invented or deduced or conjectured anew in each age. It can be experienced if we begin to follow the bread crumbs dropped by those who have traveled the road before us. Countless spiritual pilgrims have felt the longings we all feel, have encountered the obstacles we encounter have devoted themselves to the truth we wish to do. It is a great reassurance to pick up their writings or teachings and begin adapting them to the particulars of our own lives.
We all live in an age when the ordinary seems extraordinary: to take time to watch the sun rise, to enjoy a peaceful cup of ice-blended whilst listening to music, to eat breakfast or dinner with all the members of our family together at one time and to actually enjoy each others company. Such simple, human moments are romanticized in commercials for their nostalgia value because they have become so rare today. And we also live in an age when the extraordinary seems ordinary: a relentless pace that would bring Alexander the Great to his knees; a level of materialism and creature comforts that would exceed Cleopatra’s wildest dreams; a degree of self-absorption that would make Narcissus blush. Tens of millions of us who can’t keep up, or who become understandably confused or depressed, are prescribed powerful drugs to help us fall back into place. This is not just extraordinary; I think it is rather incredible. In our era, even ancient spiritual practices may be used not so much for touching the sacred but for reducing stress so that we can keep up the truly soul-destructive, frenetic level of activity.
Americans for example, turn to disciplines like meditation or yoga more often through the advice of their doctors than through the teachings of sages. When we dare to slow down and ask ourselves some probing question, how well do our answers satisfy us? Are we deeply fulfilled? Do we feel our lives have clear sense of purpose? Do we see our place in the great scheme of things? Do we have confidence in the future of our society? Life is a school. We are in a protected environment. This reality is a metaphor for larger realities in which we are to eventually take part. While what we do here does not have permanent consequences, it is vital for our learning that we take it somewhat seriously.
Just as school work requires serious effort but isn’t supposed to be performed perfectly, we are expected to make mistakes as we try to create the world from the model that we see dimly in our minds. The mistakes we make in life, the cruel and thoughtless things we do, are really the foibles of children. Our errors do not weight eternally against our soul, and they are not put on your permanent record. Their only purpose is to teach us to improve.
We have been given the freedom to create the reality we experience because we are supposed to learn from it. We have to exercise flexibility. We have to switch lanes if we think that our lives may be in the fast lane. Sometimes, there may be humps along the way and we may falter from time to time. But we have to get on with our lives. We must never allow ourselves to be a stumbling block but instead the stepping stone that enables us to leap to even greater heights.
Once in a while, try listening to our hearts and we may be surprise with the positive impact it exerts on our lives. After all, we have been trained to use our brains for too long. Ultimately, timely change is inevitable. Life is all about listening to others. After all, we have two ears and one mouth.
This long forsaken skill will save us from tremendous conflicts and misunderstandings regardless of the severity. Misunderstandings can be avoided if we build bridges instead of walls. People are not perfect. Humans do err sometimes.
But we must be able to learn to forgive them although it is difficult initially. It all boils down to our own intentions. If we wish to see smiles of joy and happiness on everybody’s faces, there is no need for us to be revengeful and bear grudges against people. If we are in the wrong, we have to learn to swallow our pride and accept our mistakes. Life too expects us to look beyond people’s behaviour.
We must look for goodness instead of their weaknesses and shortcomings. And importantly, we must never hab our any evil thoughts. Bottling such thoughts is like shaking a can of Coke before opening it. Instead, we must push it away from our minds. In life, we must strive to exert positive energies on others. I’ve always believed that if we brighten other people’s lives, our own lives will shine.
Finally, in my opinion, inward character reflection is as important as our external characters. Our inward characters are like the foundations of a building. We must learn to smile and praise others. Life will be more pleasant if we give ourselves pats on our backs and reward ourselves with good things.
Life does not need anger to survive. It only drives us nearer to our graves. In life, small things should never make us sweat. They are only the red lights along the road to our destination.
We are born crying while everyone around us is smiling. When we depart from this place, everyone around us will be crying; and, hopefully, we will be smiling. We should just lead a full life and rep its rewards. But how can we if we ourselves do not know the value of such priceless possession that is just lent but not given to us? The may be no one answer to the question posed.
Even with such diversities and polymorphous nature, we all know that the true meaning of life is when we are able to achieve and sustain happiness in our everyday actions. We are all here to love each other and all living things. There is nothing else we have to learn and nothing else we have to do.