What Is The Meaning Of Life?

The age-old question that’s been asked by everyone from the great stoic philosophers to new age hippy stoners…

What is the meaning of life?

But I think that question is inherently flawed to start with because it assumes that there’s some sort of objective meaning of life that works for everyone.

There’s just no way we could ever agree on a universal answer for that question.

So I think the proper first question people need to ask is, “What is meaning?”

Because that question actually allows you to define the word, and then from there apply it to your own life and what you actually want to achieve.

So in this post, I’m going to do my best to define “Meaning” through my own lens and then zoom out towards what I believe a proper “meaning of life” would be for a man based on my own experience.

I fully accept the fact my definition will not apply to everyone, it’s not objective, and that’s okay with me. What I know for a fact is that my definition is not even really my definition…

It’s what I’ve gathered from the men in my life who aren’t living in an existential vacuum of dread, constantly needing to fill their life with some shiny object to distract themselves from the fact that their life is a fucking mess.

It’s the definition I’ve gathered from the men I feel like have their shit together emotionally, have families, are wealthy, and are respected by other men.

That definition is: “Meaning is what is what you want to orientate your life around.”

And I think there’s some trial and error with this for every man on his journey. I could tell you right now, that seeking nothing but pleasure, spending all day smoking weed, holding no responsibility, and watching re-runs of The Sopranos all day is not a worthwhile meaningful life.

(Speaking from experience here…)

But if your life’s meaning right now is to escape a back-breaking construction job and restaurant job that has you working 4 AM - 9 PM, that luxurious trip to “fuck off” island with Tony Soprano and Khalifa Kush probably sounds like heaven on earth.

What I’m getting at is that as we evolve and change what we want from life, our meaning changes as well. In other words, what you’re orientating yourself around changes.

Where I think you can save a lot of time is again looking at the people who DO have a fulfilling deep sense of meaning in life and copying what they orientate themselves around.

I think a lot of hard-headed guys, including my previous self, try to re-invent the wheel and figure it out themselves because to them it seems “beta” to take on another man’s meaning in life.

But this is exactly what the whole purpose of religions like Christianity is intended to do. Their ideology is based on “If you think this way, it will make your life better.”

And some people attack that, they say it’s weak or “slave-minded” to let someone else do your thinking for you…

I personally think it’s extremely relieving!

Can you imagine the burden that comes with having to figure out the meaning of life?

I don’t think there’s a more difficult task in the world, and this is why I think so many people that force this burden upon themselves end up with the answer, “life is meaningless.”

No. Wrong.

Life CAN be meaningless.

Life CAN also be extremely meaningful and amazing.

Sure, we’re all going to die. Your great great great grandkids won’t know who you are, but this is no different than people using extreme outlier statistics to prove their point. You’re zooming out so far that it literally makes the entire discussion irrelevant.

To sit here and say that the work of someone who’s dedicated themselves to breaking apart and dismantling child trafficking rings, is ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things, is just flat-out stupid.

Tell that to all the parents who are reunited with the children they thought were buried 6 feet in a ditch somewhere unknown.

It’s a nihilistic, dickhead, depressing take on the world, and it’s no wonder why most of the people who ascribe to that ideology are constantly pursuing a hedonistic lifestyle.

They’re selfish. They can’t think of anything outside of themselves, so that’s why they say everything else is meaningless except for their bodily desires.

This is why I don’t even want to take on the burden of having to “figure out” the meaning of life…

I’m perfectly okay depending on people further ahead than me who have what I want, and also on faith-based super-structures like Christianity.

I don’t mean to get all religious but I find this viewpoint to be extremely useful.

In Orthodox Christianity, the meaning of life is the process of sanctification, which is becoming like Christ. So what this does is create a judge over you that basically says, get rid of everything about yourself that isn’t perfect.

However, Christ wasn’t capable of sin and it’s literally impossible for you to achieve that, which is the point. This forces you to start orientating yourself around the process instead of the end goal.

And a “Christ-like” principle is the process of being selfless, which is why Christ died for our sins.

So it’s not about orientating yourself around the process of perfection for YOU. It’s about orientating yourself around the process of perfection for OTHERS.

It’s so you can lead by example and serve as a beacon to the world to help people escape from the hell they’ve created for themselves.

And if we’re going to remove religion from the conversation, I’ll quote my current coach Wes Watson who says, “Become the person that you needed in life and then give that to the world.”

Yes. That’s it.

Exact same concepts, except one is thousands of years old and the other was formed by a man sitting in a prison cell for 10 years.

Funny how they both arrived at the same conclusion.

(By the way, if you don’t know Wes, you 100% should look him up, he’s seriously changed my life for the better.)

So here’s how you apply this way of thinking…

Think about yourself right now…

All the fucked up flaws you hold, your insecurities, your limiting beliefs…

Who would you have needed to be around when you were younger to ensure none of that negativity took over your mind?

Someone strong? Wise? Emotionally-sound? Good communicator? Respected by others?

The list goes on and on.

The process of shaping your character around that list of traits is what I’ve personally determined to be a worthwhile meaning of life.

It’s about first becoming that person, and then giving that person to the world to help others become it.

It just makes perfect sense to orientate yourself around that, right?