Today’s Thought of the Day – The Meaning of Life
Sep 2nd, 2008 | By Barbara | Category: Insights
Morning all,
Paradise is approaching every fiber of my very being as school starts in two days! Talk about bliss!
But I digress. 
Today’s thought of the day is courtesy of Nicky 510 (besides cartoons, you also receive for free super photographs and really interesting points of view) and goes like so:
The aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly – that is what each of us is here for.
Oscar Wilde
Why are we here? What’s the meaning of life? What’s the purpose of it all? These are tough questions to answer. In the cosmic scheme of things our entire planet doesn’t make any impact at all really – it’s just an infinitesimal mote in an immense universe. Given that, what’s OUR point, tiny and transient creatures such as we are?
Well, it’s a big issue and it’s given birth to all our religions and philosophies. Too big a topic to cover even shallowly here. But I thought Oscar’s contribution was quite a good one. It’s something that we can wrap our minds around and profit from. Our aim in life should be, paraphrasing here, to become the best that we can be. It’s impossible to realize one’s nature perfectly (perfection being so elusive) so where does that leave us? In a state of continual striving, that’s where. It’s the journey, not the destination.
To me, his two sentences encompass a wide panoply of follow-on realizations. Rest on one’s laurels? Never! That’s not self-development. Do a slap-dash job? Not unless your nature is to do things poorly. Tell people you’re an expert before you’ve made every possible mistake? Not going to happen…..MORE….
I really like how Crow ends his thoughts (not included above). And here’s mine:
I remember when I was a weee lass of single digits and I asked my mom that very same question:
Mom, what’s the meaning of life?
She told me (she really did) the following.
Barbara, the meaning of life is you live and you die BUT by the time you die, you’ve made the world a better place for someone or something. It could be for your family, it could be for the state, it could be for the nation, it could be for your friends….the point is, the world became a better place because YOU were it in.
And that’s what I teach me kids to this day as well.
How ’bout you? What’s your take?
Enjoy,
Barbara Ling
ps – speaking about the Meaning of Life, have you seen:
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Hello!
My take is that you were an amazing lass to have asked your Mom the ‘meaning’ question at such an early age, and that you have a wonderful Mom who gifted you with such an amazing answer, AND your kids are very blessed to also have a Mom that is passing on the wisdom.
Long ago, someone told me that the Boy Scouts (Cub Scouts?) use that as their mott: Leave a place in a better condition than you found it. I’ve added to that: Leave a person in a better state than you found him/her. (This has certainly helped me transition out of relationships in a more loving manner.)
And, yes, it’s the journey…amen, sistah!
Thank you for the wonderful post!
take care,
Louise Lewis, author
No Experts Needed: The Meaning of Life According to You!
FREE gift (pdf) copy at: http://www.noexpertsneeded.com
(No strings/spam attached…really!)
Thank so much for your kind words!! I like the Boy Scout motto – it certainly is very true.
Best wishes, Barbara
We can say in different way…
“Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.”
“A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough”. Life coach
I like that!
Barbara
The world isn’t meant to just be walked on. Its meant for you to learn things about yourself and those around you.
So very true.
Thanks for stopping by, Barbara