THE MEANING OF LIFE

by Jorge D. Lomboy



This subject matter is too broad in scope to be narrowed down in simplistic terms.  Life is highly personalized with private agendas and the meaning of life is so profoundly individualized by cross-purposes to be innately vague and subjective.  The word "meaning" implies different things for it refers to what we intend to convey by language or the thing that is conveyed by language.  The word "life" is also generally understood as the principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings.  It is the sequence of mental and physical experiences that make up the existence of an individual. 

The meaning of life is something unique for every individual is unique.  Although life is something we all have in common, its meaning is something we view differently.  What is meaningful and what is meaningless is anyone's guess for no two persons, not even identical twins, are the same.

The meaning of life is a soul-searching ultimate question.  What gives meaning to life is not proved by evidence, ascertained by reason nor revealed by articulation.  Experiments do not determine the purpose of life, laboratory research cannot produce answers to the meaning of life, classrooms at every level of education could not provide the meaning of life.  Some say that we are here by accident and have no intrinsic meaning.  We must construct answers for ourselves and there is no other way.  Others say that we are here for a purpose for we were created for a purpose and knowing that purpose will give us the answers to the question of life's meaning.  The logic of this argument lies in the fact that the probability of a physical being coming into existence out of nothing is zero.  Life is a creation of the Creator who gave us a reason to live with a purpose to pursue in our earthly pilgrimage.  That purpose and that reason are the ultimate questions that define the meaning of life for those of us who believe that we are not here by accident but are here for a purpose.

One of the most disturbing gripes we hear from those who have reached the summit of self-fulfillment is that of the barrenness that still haunts their lives, all their triumphs notwithstanding.  This sort of lamentation is one good reason the question of meaning is a soul-searching endeavor in life's pursuit.  Although none like to admit it, what brings purpose to life in countries rich in opportunities is a higher standard of living even if it means willing to die for it.  Yet judging by the remarks of some who have attained a higher standard of living, there is oftentimes an expression of disappointment.  After his second victory at Wimbledon, champion Boris Becker surprised the world by admitting his great struggle with suicide.  Jack Higgins, renowned author of The Eagle Has Landed, has said that the one thing he knows now at the height of his career that he wished he had known as a small boy is this: When you get to the top, there is nothing there.  Emptiness at the top quibbles the meaning, defies the purpose and abjures the goal of life.

The search for meaning never ceases because the answer to boredom ventilates the urge to a never ending argument for nobler deeds, higher thoughts, purer actions and greater achievements.  Whatever station in life we may find ourselves, whether upward or downward, forward or backward, we must all attempt to answer the question of life's meaning.  There is meaning in the life of the freewheeler.  There is purpose in the life of a pauper.  There are goals in the lives of the affluent.  The lower class, the middle class and the upper class look for the meaning of life by their inclinations where they spend most of their time and effort.  It is the meaning of life that makes us useful for life is useless without any meaning.  Our importance to others does not come from what we obtain, it comes from what others acquire from us.  What and why are two inseparable components when dealing with the subject that gives life's meaning.  We can agree to disagree at length on life's meaning and no one can say that we are both wrong when we are both right.

How you look at life is entirely your business and how I see it is entirely mine for you can never be me and I can never be you.  What gives meaning to life is anything we believe in, anything we work for and anything we die for.  Monuments around us speak loudly of the meaning of life, of the heroes we worship and whose memory we perpetuate in those monuments.  They showed the meaning of life by paying the price of nobility on the altar of self-denial.  It is not how long we live that gives meaning to life but rather how well we live.  We are not here to add years to our life, we are here to add life to our years for life is more of its donation than its duration.  For a seed must die to produce more seeds makes it clear that the more we are losing, the more we are winning.  We were not given all things to enjoy life but were given life to enjoy all things.

Those who have not yet experienced the success they covet find it impossible to believe that those who have attained it have found one thing in terms of giving meaning to life.  They are introduced to the mistaken belief that success culminates the fullness of complacency and self-fulfillment.  People frustrated by misfortune and bad luck perceive success in one's chosen field as the ultimate goal in life.  Surprisingly, they are forced into discovering that success is a plastic image because there is no peace of mind in success.  Deterioration and decline begins with diminishing returns in the lives of people who have reached the apex.  What is the purpose of life and of living is a puzzling question in the hidden agenda for there is no answer that will fit every ultimate goal.  The lines are clearly drawn and the answers are worlds apart as we bring every reason difficult to understand.

I don't think I am second-guessing when I say that what we want to be and what we want to become are glued to the purpose of life.  I don't think I would appear apologetic in saying that what we want to have and to hold are linked to the meaning of life.  I don't think it is ridiculous for me to accept that the goal of life is power for power gives the uncanny ability to create miracles and mysteries through sleight of hand.  The wonders of power are seen in the double lives of leaders rising from rags to riches by moonlighting in what I call "corporruption."  Power is the conqueror of life for it is power that chills the wealthy and frightens the wise.  I feel stupefied for expounding on the meaning of life in the anonymity of virtue while the perverted living flotsam and jetsam lives are treated to red carpet receptions on their way to the ivory tower.

Freedom is meaningless to people born free and meaningful to people enslaved.  Riches have less meaning for children born to privilege but is more meaningful to a child born in destitution.  Intelligence is less meaningful to a fast learner but more meaningful to a slow learner.  Fame and fortune have less meaning to a millionaire seriously ill but are more meaningful to an indigent in good health.  These paradoxical situations send a cascading message that there is meaning when something is missing.

The search for meaning could never be found in books and libraries, in schools and classrooms.  It cannot be found in pots of gold in a materialistic world.  The more knowledge we gain, the less wisdom we seem to have.  The more economic security we attain, the more complacent and insecure we become.  The more worldly pleasure we enjoy, the less satisfied and contented we are with life.  All these befuddle the meaning of life for they lead us to drift away into the wilderness.  We are like a restless sea finding a little amusement here and a little gratification there but nothing permanent and satisfying.  Even when our outward circumstances are seemingly ideal, deep within we are troubled by a nagging hunger or a longing for something we cannot quite identify.  Deep inside we yearn for something more certain and so the search for meaning remains unfulfilled.  The search for meaning comes to fruition in the right places of worship where we come to know better the giver of life and the meaning of life.