Meaning Of Life

What is the meaning of life? Every person, whether he or she wants to admit or not, has down alone or with a group of friends and pondered this question from dusk till dawn. For most people one immediately know the answer but for others it's different to figure out. If you think about it, it's a question that has many different answer for each person, but absolutely no wrong answeres. Inevitably, while each of us tries to figure out that particular question, we all experience what life has to offer while traveling on our proverbial journey. A journey in which we ask ourselves what is life really all about and what's our purpose for being here?

For some people the meaning of life is attaining as much knowledge as possible. It's been said, that knowedge is power and is the key for certain people who spend their entire lives seraching for answers to questions that that have been asked and debated on countless times. Such questions in particular are: What do women want? Is there another from of life out in space than our own? Is there an afterlife? Does God really exist? One may not even come up with the answers, but for that particular person it is a challenge to figure it out. Let me ask you this question though, when a person does finally come up with the answers to these questions, what's next?

In some cases, what brings meaning to a person's life is making that all might dollar. Every person wants to be secure in the fact that he or she has enough money to be set in the latter years of one's life. Yet, there is a saying that money is the root of all evil. For particular people, money can consume him or her and ultimately it can change a person's personality. A change in which one becomes someone that one's friends and family don't recognizes and may not want to be around. The material things that one wants in life are semi-important; but when it becomes all about the benjamins so to speak, he or she will sacrifice the most important thing he or she has and that is one's family.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, ~The purpse of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.~ In a way what he says is true, BUT a person doesn't have to give up one's happiness in order to find meaning in one's life. One can absolutely go through life spreading happiness to others even though one's own personal happiness hasn't quite been fulfilled. Ultimately one can stumble upon it because the answer to one's purpose in life has always been staring that person in the face. Call it an epiphany or an eye opening moment, one's meaning/purpose of life will be eventually realized.

I started this thought by asking the question what is the meaning of life? The better quetsion to ask is what is the meaning of your own life? You basically have to ask yourself who or what makes you happy in life? About 2 months ago, without power for seven days after Hurricane Ivan, I reflected on what has meant most to me and does it give me purpose. After 6 nights looking up into this stars I came up with this answer. In the last 8 years I have connected with so many kid, that I realized I was miserable not being in a place that drove me nuts. In restrospect, what has given me meaning and purpose has been "my kids" because they make me happy...most of the time.