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What is the point of life?

A

For much of my life I was always working towards something. As a kid it was doing well in school so I could go to uni. At uni it was doing well so I could get a good job. At work it was working hard to get promotions and pay rises and career progression.

But then at some point you have to ask yourself what the ultimate goal is, because no matter how hard we work, life is finite. It will end. Money, possessions and titles are no use when you’re dead.

Maybe we should stop telling kids to strive to progress and instead tell them to enjoy their moment.

What makes your life meaningful?

Parents

  • This question is quite heavy. I guess, the point of life is death. To realise what you have in life, it is important to understand that we’ll all die eventually. I find it pretty soothing to know that everything I do is irrelevant in the long run, so I try to be a bit kinder to myself. Life is about how you get to death.

    Nobody knows a definite answer to this question though. That’s the beauty of it.

  • in reply to Emmalephant

    The reason I posed the question is that I was thinking about my dad, who died around this time of year.

    I was thinking about the house I mostly grew up in and in which he spent the second half of his life. How he and my mum moved in there and all the hopes they must have had and how it’s all gone now, for nothing.

    But then I realised that it isn’t the end that matters. It’s the forty years they had there together. All the things they did together. They had an allotted time and they used it and that’s all anyone can hope for.

    Sorry if this is too heavy!

Reply
  • in reply to Emmalephant

    The reason I posed the question is that I was thinking about my dad, who died around this time of year.

    I was thinking about the house I mostly grew up in and in which he spent the second half of his life. How he and my mum moved in there and all the hopes they must have had and how it’s all gone now, for nothing.

    But then I realised that it isn’t the end that matters. It’s the forty years they had there together. All the things they did together. They had an allotted time and they used it and that’s all anyone can hope for.

    Sorry if this is too heavy!

Children
  • in reply to A
    A said:
    The Egyptians were wise people, and knew that cats are in fact gods.

    Absolutely.

  • in reply to I Sperg
    I Sperg said:
    come to recognise and understand God.through the holy office of service to cats.

    Heart eyes cat

  • in reply to I Sperg
    I Sperg said:
    The point of life is to live it as well as you can, and I believe, come to recognise and understand God.through the holy office of service to cats.

    The Egyptians were wise people, and knew that cats are in fact gods.

  • in reply to A

    I've grieved a coupe of times properly, once at the end of my first proper serious love relationship, and at the death of my cats, particularly Blackjack, that tore the guts out me properly.

    Death of family relatives and freinds, not so much...

    The point of life is to live it as well as you can, and I believe, come to recognise and understand God.through the holy office of service to cats.

    Mines sitting next to me on our widened chair, making typing awkward enough before he starts scratching his head and catches my jumprer up in the process somehow...

  • in reply to A

    No, not too heavy. Just the right amount of heavy. I’m sorry for your loss, but I thank you for this beautiful question. You know, maybe I was wrong after all, life can also be a bit about connections that last long past your death. Their life had an impact on you and by asking this question you transferred a piece of their life onto everyone here. Very corny, I know, sorry.

  • in reply to Iain

    Thanks Iain. Just one of those late night thought processes brought on by the time of year and thinking about my own future. I never really grieved, which I believe is not uncommon for autistic people.

  • in reply to A
    A said:
    I was thinking about the house I mostly grew up in and in which he spent the second half of his life. How he and my mum moved in there and all the hopes they must have had and how it’s all gone now, for nothing.

    It took me a long time to come to terms with the impermanance of life and all the things around us. I eventually found a zen type of acceptance that nothing lasts for ever so accepting its transience gives me a sense of the process being natural and nothing to fear.

    It doesn't stop some stuff hurting, especially the passing of loved ones, but it helps being able to frame this as natural helps the grieving process for me.

    A said:
    Sorry if this is too heavy!

    Talking it out can be a very good way to process the feelings - if this works for you then go for it. We are here to listen and help if you want this.