Post No. 2: Meaning of Life

Just something I wrote for one for my friends on Christmas Day'2004, enclosed within the pages of Mitch Albom's "Five People You Meet In Heaven" (bought it for gift exchange)...

To whoever receives this book:

Hey there! Now that you’re at the last chapter of the book, just thought that I should share my afterthoughts about the book (actually more about Life) with you…

For as long as it can be remembered, philosophers, theologians, thinkers & many others alike, have been asking: “What is the meaning of Life?” and been trying to find a definitive answer to this question. Some think they have succeeded while some are still searching. Then, there are those who asked a different question; they asked: “Is there a meaning to Life?”. To keep a long story short, there are those in the latter group who came to the conclusion that Life has no inherent meaning (if I’m not wrong, such a stance is termed “existentialism” in philosophy) and it’s part of human nature to attempt to find meaning for it.

To me, however, the questions to ask oneself are not whether there’s a meaning to Life and what’s the meaning of Life. Instead, the two questions which should be asked, I think, should be: “Have I lived Life meaningfully?” and “How does one live Life meaningfully?”. We shouldn’t be hoping for five people in heaven (who & which may or may not exist) to enlighten us about Life and its meaning; we should instead be trying our best to give meaning to our lives through living Life meaningfully. It’s no easy task, I admit, to live meaningfully. As an ordinary traveler on the long journey that’s Life, there’s no definitive formula which I can prescribe on how to live meaningfully. However, there are three basic principles which I can share… One, living meaningfully should mean living virtuously. Two, although not all men can be saints, that doesn’t mean they should allow themselves to be sinners. Three, it’s not enough to be good, one should also do good.

Are you living Life meaningfully?

“The unexamined Life is not worth living.” – Socrates

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow of Life. To put to rout all that was not Life and not, when I come to die, discover that I had not lived.” – Dead Poets’ Society

A Fellow Traveler,
LCC
10/12/2004