What is the meaning of your life?

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

Well, I'm making this thread to ask a rather serious question.

 

What do you hold as the meaning of your life?

• What is the reason you wake up every morning?
• What makes you want to be alive a week from now?
• What, if taken away, would render your life unbearable?
• What, if given to you, would render your life worth living?
• Do you even value your own life?

Do you find some sort of objective meaning to life? If not, then what keeps you going?

 

How practical is your answer?

 

If you say, for example, "I just live my life to the fullest," does it actually satisfy you and truly make you happy? Or is it more along the lines of forced optimism that doesn't work out quite as happily as it may sound?

 

Please be detailed and avoid silly responses!

 

I'm quite curious as to what your responses are. Please excuse me if I give what seems like inquisitive questions in response to your posts. I don't mean it for harm.

[Shiki 5,853]

I'll take this question more along the lines of my favourite thing that keeps me motivated in general, because I believe there is no purpose/meaning to life as a whole notion.

 

I wake up, go to school, don't do the work, play on my phone/iPod all day, come home, don't do my work, go on the computer, go on this forum, watch anime, listen to music, watch more anime, write stories, watch more anime, make some of my own music, and watch more anime.

 

Really, I don't even know what I do all day, but I know that everything I partake in is related to ways of me escaping this reality, not because I hate it, but because fantasy has so much more to offer. Listening to music that sends you to a world that isn't very explainable by words, and watching an anime with characters that move you emotionally to the same incomprehensible level... It's just nice. I really don't do much, because I really don't like much, but for some reason, I enjoy every day of my life, just sitting behind a computer screen. Life is easy for me, because happiness is easy for me to get. So yeah. Anime. Music. Stories. Living for the experience of that emotional... push... I guess that what I'll sum it up to. I'm weird. c:

[Twiliscael 3,958]

The meaning of my life? As a species, it's reproduction. As a human being, it's advancement. I want to advance myself as far as I possibly can during my lifetime. Whether it be intellectually, physically, mentally, or in some other way, I want to get better. Why? I don;t know. I'm never satisfied when I know I can do better.

 

I wake up every morning knowing that I am a huge part in other people's lives. I wake up every morning to try to make the most out of the day.

 

I want to be alive a week from now because this is the only chance that I have to be alive. Who knows what happens when we die? I sure don't. With that in mind, I want to live as long and happily as possible. I don't necessarily wake up and say "Ahhh, I want to be alive next week!" but truthfully, I want to be alive forever as long as possible.

 

I think becoming paralyzed would render life unbearable. I've been through hell and high water emotionally, and I've stuck through it but being completely unable to move? Fuck no. I'm a fairly active person and one of the things that gets me up in the morning is knowing that I can physically get up and do something.

 

My life has already been rendered worth living. I've experienced several deaths and other events that, at the time, really made me not want to live any more. Suicide and self pain were common thoughts, the second one acted upon pretty frequently. I realized that I was wasting away what others had lost. I couldn't do that.

 

I value my own life, but I value the lives of others above me. I would gladly take a bullet for a random stranger on the street. Frankly, my life doesn't mean much. I'm never going to be anything special. If I had to sacrifice myself to put someone better off, I would. My life is expendable. The child with his entire life ahead of him is worth more than me. The father with 3 children at home is worth more than me.

 

Here's something deep being said by me. For any of you who know me, that's RARE. Take it to heart, I usually don't ever open up about anything like this.

[~WhiteHawk~ 186]

To just.... I guess just to live. I want to wake up and experience everything.

 

I want to wake up, work on school work, talk to friends, have fun with fellow bronies, furries, and my Tumblr friends. I want to just have fun and enjoy life.

 

I'm not completely sure what my meaning of life is, because I haven't discovered it yet. I want to have fun yes, but is that all I'm going to be able to do in life? Or is there something more? I sometimes question how important my existence is. Would anyone care if I was gone? Or am I just another useless slave of the American government being used to make them money?

 

But at the same time, I've learned to try not to question this as much. Whatever put me on this earth, there must of been a reason. It's just finding it. I think worrying about it will get you nowhere. I just want to wake up and have fun. I want to wake up knowing that my friends and family love me, and that I'm doing okay. I know I'm not going to be a very important person, and that I will never probably make a huge difference in another person's life, but that won't stop me from living. I think having fun and living life is as good of a reason as any to live.

[Whiteshade 1,426]

What is the reason you wake up every morning?

For amusement, as well as spreading my ideals

 

What makes you want to be alive a week from now?

Same reason

 

What, if taken away, would render your life unbearable?

My validity

 

What, if given to you, would render your life worth living?

Bit cliche, but happiness and success. Happiness somewhat more so than success in priority.

 

Do you even value your own life?

I value myself but not my life. This might take some explaining. I value myself in that I have confidence in myself, my ideals, and my actions. I don't really value my life in that I couldn't give a damn if I died, because I would find it amusing. However, if my ideals are threatened or my goals remain unfulfilled, then I refuse to die.

 

There is no meaning for life. It's a blank canvas really, and you can draw what you want. After you are done, then it has meaning.

 

TL;DR Ima zealot.

Edited August 31, 2012 by Whiteshade

[~Chaos~ 3,966]

Hmm, I gues the meaning of my life is to live and experience everything that happens to come along through the journey, even if I feel down or that it's not worth living, it's to just push through and see what the future holds, it could be amazing, or it could be a horrible experience, but no matter what could come from it, the meaning of my life is to just keep living.

 

I think curiosity keeps me going and wanting to see whats to come a week, a year, or even 10 years down the road, and living for family and friends, because if your gone, then their lives get a lot worse, even if you don't think so, those are some things that keep me wanting more.

[I used to be a stranger 7,989]

This post has been redacted by the author.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Blue

[Envy 6,000]

What is the reason you wake up every morning?

 

There are two reasons: Because I am here. And have to believe that I am lucky that matter came together in a way to give me a consciousness.

 

The other, to achieve my goals in improving myself as an bassoonist and an musician as well.

 

What makes you want to be alive a week from now?

 

Say I achieved that goal in the next week (it is a pretty solid goal, although I haven't detailed it that way), then what would keep me alive at that point would be that I would get to play oboe next semester. =P

 

Yes, that's serious.

 

What, if taken away, would render your life unbearable?

 

My ability to hear and see.

 

What, if given to you, would render your life worth living?

 

 

Having the last 7 to 8 years just being a nightmare that I wake up from.

 

Do you even value your own life?

 

That's a good question. It's one I really don't know if I can answer properly. I liked to think that I had built up a great value for my life in the last several years. However, within the last few months I have been pushed to limits and have slipped back into thoughts of... not valuing my life, to put it lightly.

 

My entire life is now about achieving my goals. I value those goals and my chance of achieving them, even though they are a huge uphill battle for me. If I were to come to a point where I can not achieve them for whatever reason, my life would have no value to me anymore.

 

Of course, it might have value for other people, but not me.

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

• What is the reason you wake up every morning? I enjoy my life, so why not wake up to it?
• What makes you want to be alive a week from now? I do have a nice school and friends, and my family is good in terms of money, so I am happy.
• What, if taken away, would render your life unbearable? Probably a girl I like and also my family
• What, if given to you, would render your life worth living? Nothing really b/c it already is worth living.
• Do you even value your own life? Yes

I'm a happy person. I'm not really having a ton of problems with my life, though I do have a bit of them. But for the most part I'm content.

[Starshine 16,330]

I don't have any goal or long-term ambitions in life. I just want to live the best way I could have. Praise hedonism!

• What is the reason you wake up every morning? Because I still have things to do, and the world still have much to offer to me
• What makes you want to be alive a week from now? The same thing as before, there's a lot from this world I haven't experienced yet
• What, if taken away, would render your life unbearable? Any of my senses. Be it my sight, hearing, or voice, losing any of them can really drive me suicidal
• What, if given to you, would render your life worth living? Limitless sum of money
• Do you even value your own life? ...yes

Too bad I'm a poor bastard right now. If I had the money, I would be travelling around the continent by now.

[Cherry Blossom 863]

What is the reason you wake up every morning?

I only wake up in the morning to only find myself still alive. And while I learn at school, I ask myself "What are you going to do with your life?"

 

Then when I get off the bus from school, I start walking towards my home. My home which is a small apartment which I have to share the bed with my big brother. And I think about what I could've done in the past when I sleep at night. I experience nightmares, but in the end I never remember them, or even have a pony related dream.

 

The next day I find myself upset because my parents may die in any second, in any moment, or in any hour. My mother abused me and was extremely strict, but I always loved her and hated her at the same time. I could never really tell... Then my father, I feel so terrible for him. He is underweight and has to work to put dinner on our table, or rather our coffee table. And my big brother who was a good person, but short tempered. Now goes to a dental school far away from here, far away from me. Whenever my parents go to work, I always feel like that I'm living all by myself, all alone in my home to fear no one is protecting me.

 

My parents always wake up early to go to work and they come come late with no time to spend with me, but they must work just to keep things going the way they are. And when they do come home, all their arguments just make me feel guilty for not trying to intervene.

 

Whenever I ask for money to buy something I really want. I feel awful when money could be put to good use for charity and to make the live of others to be easier. I even refused to get a phone, for fear of losing it.

 

Now that my brother is far away in dental school, I'm all alone in that dark and scary bedroom. And whenever I want to move back to my old neighborhood, I always remember that ghostly figure I saw when I was very young. It all haunts me to this very day. When I type this, I'm not sure if I'm scared, sad, or anything...

 

Each day passing as I grow older, so do my parents and I sometimes wish that I was never born. I wished that my personality and memory would be wiped after I would be able to shape my own life, but that never happened.

 

The only things that keeps me alive is God...

What makes you want to be alive a week from now?

Only to stay alive so my parents wouldn't experience having to lose a child, but I wish I could die with them. I don't want them to suffer death by themselves. I love them so much that I am a shame to myself. I'm a liar and a hypocrite, I've always lied to my parents and I've even done terrible things that I said I would never do. I would always say, "What would God think of me?"

 

Nothing makes me want to be alive except to make my family happy, but I was never able to do that. My dad graduated from art school in our home country, but when we came here to America... He never got a chance to fulfill his wonderful dream... Just because his diplomacy in art wouldn't be accepted here in this country. And whenever I see a beautiful work of art he would draw, I always drove myself to hate Americans just for this. It just makes me so upset that my father was never able to be an artist like Leonardo Da Vinci. No, he just became a carpenter who has to work long hours in the hot sun.

 

And I feel the pain of my mother, she always told me to work hard, but I've failed academics as well. My mom always mourns the day of her mother, my grandmother's death. And to know that my mother wasn't successful as well just ripped my heart to pieces. I am a shame to my whole family for even being born. She never even told me what she wanted to be, but she is even depressed as well.

 

I love americans, but not because of what they've done, but for who they are.

What, if taken away, would you render your life unbearable?

My life is already unbearable to even start with, but I'm the one who is typing this on my computer when I could be out there playing a violin or a piano. but I'm stuck here in my apartment to play a plain old plastic recorder.

What, if given to you, would render your life worth living?

If I had the chance to mold my life into living in Equestria as a pony, then yes, but I would be so selfish not to think of others when I do.

Do you even value your own life?

No...I just don't value it at all...

Edited September 1, 2012 by Octavinyl

[Night Shine 767]

Before becoming a brony, even thought I'm a Christian, I had no idea what the meaning of life was.

 

Now I have decided that, for me, the purpose of life is the creation and appreciation of beauty, such as stories I write/read and music I compose/listen to.

[Celtore 2,769]

What is the reason you wake up every morning?

Human discovery. I love the fact that I learn something new every single day and I get a front seat in watching the march of progress. If I'm alive for the singularity and people start uploading their minds into machines, I would do this just to watch how far mankind will go.

 

What makes you want to be alive a week from now?

I suppose the desire of not being dead seems good enough, but I guess I will throw in going back to college. Can't wait to get back to hit the books and get ready for a very interesting semester.

 

What, if taken away, would render your life unbearable?

Unbearable you day?... I would have to say losing my hearing. My ears are very sensitive to sound and can act as a second pair of eyes. While this can be very annoying and sometimes unbearable under certain conditions, I simply couldn't live without music and sound. If I had to either lose my sight or hearing, i'd choose to lose my sight.

 

What, if given to you, would render your life worth living?

It kind of already is...

 

Do you even value your own life?

I can't really answer this. I know that I will eventually die and the world will simply continue marching onward without me. This is just a fact that I've already accepted and I'm perfectly OK with. I still live each day to the fullest, trying to improve the lives of others by being politically active and just being that someone people can turn to. I will simply say that I value life, but realistically understand my limitations and insignificance in scope of everything.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Celtore

[I used to be a stranger 7,989]

Before becoming a brony, even thought I'm a Christian, I had no idea what the meaning of life was.

 

Now I have decided that, for me, the purpose of life is the creation and appreciation of beauty, such as stories I write/read and music I compose/listen to.

 

The appreciation of God's creation for us is a beautiful and worthwhile thing. It is what all artists are called to, and I think/hope I'm sort of aimed for it.

Considering the fact that I don't seem suited for anything else. My thought process is too abstract for any traditional method of teaching or even reasoning a lot of the time.

 

Do you even value your own life?

 

That's a good question. It's one I really don't know if I can answer properly. I liked to think that I had built up a great value for my life in the last several years. However, within the last few months I have been pushed to limits and have slipped back into thoughts of... not valuing my life, to put it lightly.

 

My entire life is now about achieving my goals. I value those goals and my chance of achieving them, even though they are a huge uphill battle for me. If I were to come to a point where I can not achieve them for whatever reason, my life would have no value to me anymore.

 

Of course, it might have value for other people, but not me.

 

An interesting thing is the fact that it's a conflict of interest to value others but not yourself.

In the physical sense, it requires a certain appraisal of quality and importance of the self in order to continue preserving and maintaining yourself- as basic as eating and sleeping when you feel the need. You can't value and appreciate others unless you value and appreciate yourself, even at this basic level.

 

"Love thy neighbour" but you've always loved yourself, even if a little bit, from the very beginning. The sooner one comes to grasp this, the sooner they accrue more self-esteem, which then can be paid as esteem to others.

 

And that's how friendship works.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Blue

[Mrhnhrm 5]

• What do you hold as the meaning of your life?

Given no knowledge of what's going to be after the end, or what eventually becomes of your achievements in this sick society, it's a safe bet to say that life has no practical meaning. The way I see it, you're just going around doing stuff you're most used to. Doing stuff that you are actually good at or learning how to do something well sure feels satisfactory. So, I guess that if there's something resembling the meaning of it all, it's the never ending race after serotonin or whatever it is in your bloodstream that gives you a feeling of fulfilment. Also the desire that no one consumes your share of oxygen.

• What is the reason you wake up every morning?

An alarm clock, of course. Also the fact that staying in bed is sorta boring.

• What makes you want to be alive a week from now?

There is a decent chance that plans for the next day are going to be derailed somehow, and you want me to plan for the next week? Sure, I make far-reaching plans now and then, but they may work out fine, and may just as well not. I don't give it too much concern, I just carry on.

• What, if taken away, would render your life unbearable?

Whatever it is that allows me to do what I'm most used to and what I'm proficient with.

• What, if given to you, would render your life worth living?

There's no such thing. If it was a world where you can be sure that you'll get the desired result proportional to the applied effort knowing that no one or nothing is going to get in the way, then everything would be worthwhile. With the world organised the way it is, I think that the most guaranteed fulfilling thing I could do is to press a 'destroy the entire world' button if there is one and give evolution another chance.

• Do you even value your own life?

An interesting question. On the absolute scale, I value my life pretty low. I don't think I'd be upset if I learnt that I'm going to die soon due to some unfixable reason. And I suppose I'd be glad to give my life for something. But here's the problem: when the same value is put onto the relative scale, I don't know of a single damn thing actually worthy of what little my existence means. I would consider joining an army to fight space invaders when they arrive, but a part of me is still sure that someone will find a way of turning even such sort of war into the means of personal gain.

[Sakutama 30]

What do you hold as the meaning of your life?

a. a never ending journey to find happiness wherever it may be.

 

What is the reason you wake up every morning?What makes you want to be alive a week from now?

a. knowing there are great things to experience out there, and getting up and going to work is the first step to finding them.

 

What, if taken away, would render your life unbearable?

a. well of course it would be my husband and future kids, but also any of my senses, the ability to walk, my health. Anything stopping me from getting my happiness.

 

What, if given to you, would render your life worth living?

a. enough money to never worry about money again and live life to the fullest in a meaningful way. Could work a job I actually enjoy, see everything I want to do, experience everything I want to experience, husband/future kids have everything they need, do justice in every aspect that money limits me on.

 

Do you even value your own life?

a. yes of course, knowing I have made a lot of wonderful connections and if I lost my life it would affect everyone. I like to believe I affect people more then i'll ever realize.

 

Do you find some sort of objective meaning to life? If not, then what keeps you going?

a. like the first answer - finding happiness. Whether it's enjoy a favorite food, going somewhere fun, doing a fun project, spending time with husband. Just sprinkling life with little pieces of happiness, making the most of the time I have, and hoping i'll leave something behind that makes the world just a tiny bit better then it was before - even if it's just my good attitude, optimism, or making someone smile.

[TheBronyHeart 2,640]

This whole thread is like a slap to my face.

 

I dont even know what I am here for most the time. I try to make my time worthwhile by making others happy, and even when god things happen to me I am forced to question them and I just find myself getting deppressed.

 

But I have faith that I will find my purpose here on this earth. The Lord will help me find my place here, regardless if my role is to do one good thing and live the rest of my life in misery, im okay with that.

[Lolly 105]

Mine is but a simple answer. The reason I wake up every morning is to spread kindness and compassion. I keep living with the hope that I can accomplish something great and change even a few lives for the better. (And I already have! Lots!).

 

Give all the kindess I can,

in all the ways I can,

in all the places I can,

to all the creatures I can,

for as long as I can.

Because I can <3

[Titan Rising 2,156]

Time for my rather serious response.

 

What do you hold as the meaning of your life?

To inspire and help others to see the wonder of life. To help others to respect life. To inspire others to want to be good. Something along these lines

 

What is the reason you wake up every morning?

To act and improve myself in ways that will aid me in reaching the above goal

 

What makes you want to be alive a week from now?

Hope that I may change someone

 

What, if taken away, would render your life unbearable?

There is nothing, although losing members of my family would take a heavy toll on me.

 

What, if given to you, would render your life worth living?

There is nothing more that I need that I don't already have

 

Do you even value your own life?

Not compared to my ideals

 

Do you find some sort of objective meaning to life? If not, then what keeps you going?

Yes, to be good. What keeps me going is that there is something more to being "good" than it being just an action. I don't know if there is necessarily a God or an afterlife but I feel that being good for the sake of being good has some kind of meaning behind it even if I don't know exactly what it is

 

How practical is your answer?

When I do adhere to it I have the most respect for myself. 10/10 I suppose.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Hollowshield

[Johny Farenheit 34]

The meaning...to MY life? Why...what a curious question. I suppose i could give my answer...though it may be disappointing to others. I..do not believe my life has true meaning: I wake up, i live, i go to sleep...but I truly do not know why. Some times i contemplate why i do not simply end my own life. Then I realize that many people would miss me...people not just close to me, but people who NEED me, and people who will need me in the future. So, i suppose the thing that keeps me alive is an idea: I am a being for the people, a thing to be used by someone else to better their lives. Helping others, being at their aid....if i can die, knowing i have helped someone in some significant way...then I can die without regret. My life's purpose is for everyone else but me.

[Gingerpotato 889]

What is the meaning I wake up every morning, the meaning of my life?

 

That...that is a surprisingly tough question. I guess the reason I get up is simply because I want to live my life, because I want to get decent grades in school, get a good job, get a family and all of that jargon that makes up the "perfect" life. There is no true meaning to my reasoning towards my meaning of life, there is no deep, hidden, insightful meaning like to spread world peace or to wipe out famine through the use of genetically engineered crops that I created. Nah, the meaning of my life is simply to live it out, to get as good a grade as possible in school, to blitz through college/ university, to get a great paying job, grab a family like I'm the Grinch at christmas, settle down and retire blah blah blah. All that other stuff about spreading kindness and love just sorta happens along the way I guess.

 

Basically, for me, the meaning of my life is to live, pay taxes, breed and I guess have fun? Not very deep, not very disturbing, not very emotionally moving. Just plain old boring really. And now, because I want to, I will answer those lovely questions.

 

What is the reason you wake up every morning?

 

To go to school, to have fun, to simply live and experience the theme park ride that is "Life".

 

What makes you want to be alive a week from now?

 

Well, I'd be pretty pissed if roughly 10 years of school work was wasted because I spontaneously died. I guess what makes me want to be alive in a weeks time is just the simple ideal that I want to live my life like any other human being, to have fun and what not. Not to drastically change the world and neither to sink into the mould that we have made for ourselves but to just live life and be myself, which I cannot do if I'm dead.

 

What, if taken away, would render your life unbearable?

 

Well, freedom of course. If you were to take away that then my life would no longer be mine and would therefore be redundant and unbearable.

 

What, if given to you, would render your life worth living?

 

My life is already worth living but if I had nothing to start with then I'd have to say that compassion since it affects people so deeply and, along with wanting a decent job, it is one of the key factors towards why I drive myself so hard at school. The care and comfort my family has shown me throughout the years sort of pushed me towards trying to better myself so that their work was not in vain. Also, I wouldn't say no to heaps of money.

 

Do you even value your own life?

 

Yep. I don't really want to die at the moment since I think I will become so much more then I currently am. Then again, I wouldn't be overly sad if I was definitely told that I would die in, say, a week because to me, over my 16 years of life that I have currently lived, I have done exactly as I wished to, I have had fun and done wonderful things and gone to great places. If you told me I was set to die soon then my immediate thought would be that I have lived my life perhaps not as well as others but as well as I've wanted to live it so far. I do value life but I would not run from death when it came for me, no matter when or where.

[Spatsi 151]

meaning of my life? I'm not sure, really. I've been wondering about it for a long time, and haven't come to any conclusions. I'm an atheist, so I don't believe in any kind of afterlife. My survival instinct is probably the only thing that keeps me alive. It's kinda sad, but I don't think life has any meaning at all. No matter how we live, we all die in the end.

 

Anyhow, I have to go through all my life anyway, so I try to make it as happy and interesting as it can be. Maybe that's kind of "meaning" of my life.

[Cupcake Ice Cream 436]

What do you hold as the meaning of your life?

 

To experience and help make this world better for everyone less fortunate than I. To that end I started my PhD in International Psychology. I plan on travelling and finding ways to bring healthcare and mental health initiatives to countries that are lacking those services

 

What is the reason you wake up every morning?

 

To exist and be...Zen Buddhism has taught me a lot

 

What makes you want to be alive a week from now?

 

just life in general. The knowledge that I can think and feel keeps me going

 

What, if taken away, would render your life unbearable?

 

my cognitive faculty...I could even be paralyzed...as long as I can think/talk

 

What, if given to you, would render your life worth living?

 

I already have it

 

Do you even value your own life?

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

Well, my ultimate goal in life is to show everyone that they can;t live in hate... What I mean by that is that, if we could get along we would be so much happier then we are now. My friend came up to me last night and said "You know what I want to do with my life, I want to go to the Middle East with a bible, a quran, and basically every holy book... And spread how we all basically worship the same God..." I actually felt tears in my eyes. This is coming from someone who used to be totally against religion... I was awestruck... I told him my goal was to spread my thoughts of love and no hate, and toleration, across America. That would be my life goal.

[pjsforever 89]

I don't think there's a meaning to life. I think life is just kind of useless in general, at least from a universal perspective. It's pointless.

I guess it has a meaning for people.. I'm not sure what the meaning of my life is (but I'm only 15 so it's kind of early anyway). I don't see the point of life yet, but I value it. I'm lucky to even be here right now. Many people are suffering, some have awful families, some are in poverty, some can't see, some can't hear, some have cancer, some were born with birth defects, some know they're dying tomorrow... I consider myself lucky that my body is functioning fine, I have a good family, and I have a roof above my head. Of course my life has a great deal of problems, but why not value it? Less fortunate people would kill for some of the things I have. We take a lot of things for granted especially if life gets hard, but we shouldn't be ungrateful, and we should put things into perspective at least sometimes. I've been depressed (or at least very, very close. I was suffering daily) and I never felt suicidal (I seriously don't get teenage suicides); I just wanted to keep living since life would get better for me, and that's what keeps me going. I know I'm young and haven't been through much, but that's what I think. I've got so much to live for and so much would go to waste if I just threw everything away.