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The Meaning Of Life? ♥
in I Want... Inspiration!, I Want... Life!, I Want... Change!, I Want... Fun!30 Sep 2010 | 16 Comments
Heavy question alert!
Some people spend their entire existence questioning the exact purpose of life: what is it? What does it all mean?! IS there a divine purpose? Is it to produce a killer hotdog? Climb the mountains of Tibet? Are we doing everything ''right''? What SHOULD we be doing? Mastering Bohemian Rhapsody at karaoke? Learning the correct dance moves to The Macarena?! Will spending a year backpacking around India instill us with the kind of inherit wisdom required to possibly answer this question? Do we even need to answer this question?! There are so many questions, but where are the answers?!
And then there are those who never consider it at all. Thrilled to ride the wild wind in whichever interesting direction that it may take them, perhaps they're perfectly content to ''go with the flow'', or perhaps they couldn't be more disinterested in examining their lives beyond their day-to-day routines. And that's wonderful! Whatever works for them is FANTASTIC!
But what works for you? What does life, as we know it, mean to you? Do you have a motto or your own private (or not-so-private!) understanding of all of its madness and brilliance?
Personally, although I guffawed like a muppet and made other such useful (!) and derisive noises/comments at the time, a piece of advice that my Year/Grade 9 history teacher gave our class one day has been firmly etched in my memory:
''Honestly kids, would you like to know the great, big, mysterious 'secret' to life? BE HAPPY. That's it! Just BE. HAPPY. It's not always easy - in fact, sometimes it's bloody hard - but it's as simple as that. It's not about a job or money or whoever you're dating; that stuff doesn't matter in the long run. What does is being happy, and doing the things that MAKE you happy.''
I wish I could thank him for his insight - which I've only come to appreciate over the last couple of years - today, because I BELIEVE him. He wasn't disillusioned or unrealistic about life (he had weathered two divorces, regularly swore like a trooper and had many a bone to pick with the education system at the time!), he was just simply sharing his perspective of the world, which to me, makes more sense than any other ideal or belief I've ever heard. Yes, shoddy incidents will occur! Yes, you'll meet a few jerk-like (hot-off-the-press: this is absolutely the latest development in grown-up vocabulary!) people along the way! Hearts will occasionally be broken, jobs will sometimes be crap-tacular and feelings will hurt - but there's also many, MANY glorious things to be devoured (international cities! Phenomenal friendships! Incredible meals!), and surely the pursuit of them is so much more exquisite than dwelling on everything that's not?
♥
xoxo
(Image thanks to Nullibiety.)
Comments (16)
i don't think there is a divine purpose or anything to life. i agree with angel (...from the show, obviously :p). i don't think anything we ever do matters, in the end. & because of that, all that matters is what we do. for other people, ourselves. which also kind of ties into that whole 'be happy' thing (:
anyway, great post!
4 Oct 2010, maraluce, http://maraleopard.wordpress.com
i don't think there is a divine purpose or anything to life. i agree with angel (...from the show, obviously :p). i don't think anything we ever do matters, in the end. & because of that, all that matters is what we do. for other people, ourselves. which also kind of ties into that whole 'be happy' thing (:
anyway, great post!
4 Oct 2010, maraluce, http://maraleopard.wordpress.com
Very true indeed!
3 Oct 2010, She Wore It Well Blog, http://sheworeitwell.blogspot.com
LOVE this post! As others have said, simple but true. Ironically, it's often the simplest things we forget in the complexities of everyday life.
Another factor I have noticed with some people in their twenties and thirties, their parents were very much of the 'work hard, don't complain, you'll retire one day and that's when you can relax' mentality. Sometimes we are told to think that having fun doing what we want is frivolous. However, we can see that's not made them happy, so we want to find more balance. happy = worthwhile.
alana :)
2 Oct 2010, alana, www.alittleluminous.blogspot.com
sometimes i don't think you realise how unhappy you are about a certain thing or situation in your life untill its finished and the then this euphoric feeling hits you from nowhere (im talking from experience..can you tell? :P)
maybe the secret to life is..that there IS no secret.
2 Oct 2010, persephone, http://itspersephonee.blogspot.com
Wonderful post Corrine, and I agree with you 100%! My motto at the moment is 'roll with it & keep smiling.'
2 Oct 2010, Joanne Faith, http://www.joannefaith.com
yes, just be happy! and make sure others are happy too! there's a delicate balance between compromising yourself to make others happy and saying 'screw everyone else, I'm gonna do what I want', but I think it's a balance that's worth working for! making others happy makes you happy! and the cycle continues! lots of exclamation points! because it's happy punctuation!
1 Oct 2010, Ali, http://www.bell-street.com
Mastering Bohemian Rhapsody at Karaoke is not a bad idea lol one of my fav songs =)
1 Oct 2010, Nubiasnonsense, www.Nubiasnonsense.com
Finally, someone who agrees with me!
For a while now, I've made it my goal to go to sleep every night feeling satisfied with what I had done that day, and happy with who I am. I feel a bit weird telling people that, because it feels sort of like I'm a spoiled brat, but it's really more about making decisions that don't leave me feeling guilty.
1 Oct 2010, Rosie, http://rosieunknown.blogspot.com
This is so true! I think finding meaning in life is a very personal & individual matter as well, & that we create our own meanings. But it is odd that we remember that HAPPY times, not the times we worked extra hours, not the times we gave up seeing our friends to put more time into studying...that sort of thing.
30 Sep 2010, Ayesha
Great post as for me.
David Karver
30 Sep 2010, David Karver
Hi Corrine.
For me happiness sometimes can come from sharing with others. I may lose my material belongings/time/energy but you achieve a deeper state of happiness / satisfaction.
I wrote something abt that in my blog which I can't rewrite everything because it's too long:( haha
I think what we do blogging which we also sharing information, it's not only for us, ITs for other ppl to read and know. We r sharing. N it makes us happy!
(we r nt weird!) lol
30 Sep 2010, NatalieW, Www.lovelittleapple.blogspot.com
Recent events in my life have really shown me the value in living for the moment, doing the things that will fulfil me (and not everyone else necessarily).
I often think of how I would want to be remembered when my number is up. I think of the things I would want to look back on and be proud of.
30 Sep 2010, Kez, http://www.andsoiwasthinking.wordpress.com
I think the most important thing in life is to be happy and nothing else really matters.
xxx.
30 Sep 2010, Gypsy, www.gypsyluvs.blogspot.com
Jade - It's so funny, it *is* so simple, but it took me years to truly understand (and live by) what he was saying! (And when I did, I immediately felt so much happier!)
30 Sep 2010, x Corrine/Frock & Roll x, www.frockandrollonline.com
So true, that's the motto I live by, be happy, so simple :D Choose life hehe
30 Sep 2010, Jade , http://jademusing.tumblr.com/
