Meaning

July 17, 2011

[Alert: The tone of this post is going to be mostly philosophical. You may run now, if you wish]

Life is fun, humans are funny. I'm kinda lost on where to begin, but let me try.

I tend to have a very curious thought-process. Many of you might even deem it crazy. As Sheldon Cooper would say: "I'm now thinking about the origin of the phrase 'train of thought'"

What is the meaning of Life? I think this is one question which has made countless souls wonder ever since we started thinking. I myself have been trying to figure out the answer to this question for quite a while now. The closest to the answer I've reached is: Life, or any part of it for that matter, has no absolute meaning. It only carries the meaning you attribute to it.

For me, Life is synonymous with creation. It begins with the creation of a body which houses the Life itself, and throughout our Life we try to create something or the other (the outcome need not always be a tangible object, for instance, respect or stature) We create relationships to keep us and others happy and growing. At work, we create something or the other in whatsoever form possible.

The other main aspect of Life that provides it meaning is: giving. As humans, we are far from independent, unlike many animals who can live by themselves all their Life. We, on the other hand, wouldn't survive a month. Since birth, we are dependent on our parents for (at least) 10 years of Life for all basic needs. Even after that, one way or the other, the dependence continues. This actually is one of the reasons we have progressed as a race over Centuries. Imagine every human baby having to figure out how to create fire (and I don't mean using matches, I mean using stones) and hunt for food. That is the prime reason the structure of society evolved and we are living in the 'information age' as it happens to be.

The third, and I consider this the most important, part of Life is Love. The times we live in, the word primarily implies romantic love. My definition happens to be much broader. It obviously includes romantic aspect of it, but the other sides to it are self love, love for your ideas, principles and values, for the work you do, for the people in your Life, for your country and your fellow humans. Now the importance of these differs to everyone depending on the priorities in one's Life. Almost all of my posts have a mention of Love in one way or the other. That might be enough to give you a perspective on how much I love to love.

I recently coined this phrase about myself: If something/someone can make me laugh, learn and love, the odds are high that I would like them.

####A note on motivation: There are two kinds of motivation:

  1. Positive
  2. Negative (duh!) ;)

While positive motivation finds its roots in love, joy and purpose, its negative counterpart arises from fear and obligation. Even though both of these might work, positive is always (and definitely) better than negative.

Take mood, for instance. I believe that staying in a happy, cheerful and positive mood makes good things happen in your Life according to the Law Of Attraction. Even though it might be hard for you to make yourself believe it on the first day, if you want a reason as to why optimism is better, I would say, if things are not affected because of your mood (trust me, they do) even then, the situation having remained the same, the time you spent being positive was definitely more sensibly spent compared to having spent it sulking and painting doomsday scenarios. Look out, there just might be a dementor around you.

My patronus is a smile, what's yours?