What is the Point of Life

The only meaning I can identify is to do as much good as you can while you are on the earth, and if possible, leave a positive legacy.

I've cared for my mother for 21 years after my father's passing. She's led a comfortable life, only because I was able to provide it for her. I've also been mostly the sole provider for my household, so their lives have been made better because of my time on earth.

You've always had very insightful comments, so if you differ with my opinion that's totally okay.
 

Mitch86 said:
It seems we all get born, we grow to adults, we get old and suffer a lot with all kinds of illnesses. Then we die and totally disappear. Is there any meaning to it all?
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Well, if you're Godless, there's the in between that's the adventure.

After that......savor

Leaving thoughts, passing memories, etching a place in a rock somewhere.

Those that come after may talk about you leaving some sorta legacy
Others may call you a legend
Most will say, 'remember that asshole?'

Anyway, good or bad, you'll leave a mark

Fun to put effort into making it deep

Six feet seems popular

I did write something on the subject awhile back;

Called it

Synopsis of Life​


Seems life is divided up into indistinct sections of which we ease in to and out of, like a balloon coaxed thru a small opening, morphing sometimes without notice:​


Eating/pooping (part 1, discovering texture)​


Preschool (intro to social, sharing)​

​

School (the teacher is God)​

​

Teenage (high school hell, for teen and parent, hormones are an entity requiring exorcism, the teacher is Satan)​

​

College/military (fun, fun, fun; learn, drink, fornicate, kill)​

​

Pre-parental Early adult (more fun, but serious, sipping not chugging, serious pursuits, mating, career)​

​

Parental (joy)​

​

Parental hell (see teenage)​

​

Midlife (see early adult, attempts at hindsight adjustments)​

​

Grandparent (brief joy)​

​

Grandparental hell (hiding, see teenage)​

​

Musing Youngish Geezer (lazy boy-crossword-Jeopardy sessions, looking upon mate with renewed ardour, reflecting, attempting things you did with ease years ago)​

​

Geezer (whazzat? Whoozzair?)​

​

Eating/pooping (part 2)...Nurse!? I did it again (toothless smile)​

​

Dirt nap​

 
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What's the point of life or anything else, accept it and enjoy it.

kiddogicecream.jpg
 
As a Christian I am a child of an eternal and infinite God and, as such, my own life is eternal and infinite. The "life" to which I think you're referring, Mitch, is just a prelude of sorts to that eternal life.

For those who believe that their current earthly existence is all there is, I don't know that there is any "point of life" other that whatever meaning they personally choose to ascribe to it. But for those who understand; who love the Lord and submit to His will, this time on earth is absolutely filled with purpose and with promise.

I pray that the Lord will open the eyes of those who have not yet discovered this.
 
The point is to be MAD** as much as you can and leave something of yourself behind when life is over. I can never believe that the life of my mother was pointless, nor that of anyone else who showed me loving kindness. Every MAD** person I have ever known was a gift to countless others. Their lives had both purpose and meaning.

** Make A Difference
 
Maybe there is no "point" to life or to living. Maybe all we are meant to do is enjoy it
as much as we can and endure it when it's no longer so joyful. What point do other
living organisms have? Dogs, bears, amoebas, trees, plants, fish and fowl, they have life too.
They don't seem to question the meaning of or to look for any point. They also seem to exist
more in harmony with each other than people do. People, I think, like things nice and tidy. Without
loose ends, without unanswered questions. Maybe the point is to stop wondering and start marveling.
 
charry said:
Tell that to a 7yr old ....
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A 7 year old doesn't have the intellect to dwell on such things the way an adult might.
A 7 year old, or at least the ones I've met, can be easily distracted with a cookie. Besides,
why would one explain the meaning of life to a 7 year old when we don't even want to
explain to them how life actually begins. When a 7 year old asks about sex, do you feel
it necessary to tell them all of the details and if so, for what purpose? a 7 year old mind
can't comprehend as much as a 50 year old mind. Some questions don't need answered.
 
Chris P Bacon said:
A 7 year old doesn't have the intellect to dwell on such things the way an adult might.
A 7 year old, or at least the ones I've met, can be easily distracted with a cookie. Besides,
why would one explain the meaning of life to a 7 year old when we don't even want to
explain to them how life actually begins. When a 7 year old asks about sex, do you feel
it necessary to tell them all of the details and if so, for what purpose? a 7 year old mind
can't comprehend as much as a 50 year old mind. Some questions don't need answered.
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All questions need answering !!....some 7yr olds have more sense than some 50 yr olds 😂
 
charry said:
All questions need answering !!....some 7yr olds have more sense than some 50 yr olds
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I don't dispute your point about some 50 year olds or even some older than 50. Some people just don't "get it" and likely never will. But some questions have no answers and I agree that the questions of a 7 year old should be acknowledged but answered in terms a 7 year can grasp. I think that's why there are things called stages of development.
 
rgp said:
What's the point ? I mean if there is no meaning to life ....... why create more of it ?
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I think that we each, in our own way, give meaning to our own lives. What would it matter anyway, if there were some universal meaning to "life"? I think that a little mystery is a good thing. Why does time only move forward? Why can we revisit the past, with our minds but not our bodies? And why can we not visit the future at all, unless you count imagination as being there. Why can't we all just get along, as Rodney King once asked? Some things just have no answer because they don't need to be answered, I'd say. Once everything was answered do you think that someone, somewhere wouldn't say, "Yeah but ..." Just look around you here. Life, humanity, it's like a cauldron of churning boiling water. Bubbles burst while other ones form. Why does it happen that way? No one knows. Does it matter that we don't know? It doesn't seem to have mattered so far. We're all on the merry go round for now, may as well enjoy the ride instead of trying to understand how it works to make us smile.
 
Several years ago, I was asking the same question, Mitch86. Like some folks here, I believe in God and that we're here for a reason. I wrote a poem about this topic 15 years ago (published) and feel it's appropriate to share here: :)

Our Presence

Our presence has purpose on this earth.
Remember that
No matter how small or large we feel
We exist for a reason.

Whether it is
To help someone in need
To raise a family
To help humanity
To teach
To write
To speak
We are here for a reason.

Even Miss H. Robertson - who lived to be 106
Did not drive or marry all her life
Yet her purpose
In life might just have been to show us
That living to 106 can be done!

Even those in need, like
The mentally retarded
The invalids
The crippled ones -
Even these people have a purpose;
They allow someone else to tend to them
And show their love for them.

We all interact with each other,
Sometimes directly
Other times indirectly.
The way we dress
The way we speak
The way we think
The way we act
Influence others in some way.

So even when we're feeling low,
Remember
That we do make a difference
In another person's life.

Our Presence is important.

(Copyright 2006).
 
palides2021 said:
Several years ago, I was asking the same question, Mitch86. Like some folks here, I believe in God and that we're here for a reason. I wrote a poem about this topic 15 years ago (published) and feel it's appropriate to share here: :)

Our Presence

Our presence has purpose on this earth.
Remember that
No matter how small or large we feel
We exist for a reason.

Whether it is
To help someone in need
To raise a family
To help humanity
To teach
To write
To speak
We are here for a reason.

Even Miss H. Robertson - who lived to be 106
Did not drive or marry all her life
Yet her purpose
In life might just have been to show us
That living to 106 can be done!

Even those in need, like
The mentally retarded
The invalids
The crippled ones -
Even these people have a purpose;
They allow someone else to tend to them
And show their love for them.

We all interact with each other,
Sometimes directly
Other times indirectly.
The way we dress
The way we speak
The way we think
The way we act
Influence others in some way.

So even when we're feeling low,
Remember
That we do make a difference
In another person's life.

Our Presence is important.

(Copyright 2006).
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I like your poem. When my mother, who was the very spirit of generosity, was suffering from dementia and being cared for in a quite wonderful facility my daughter and my sister's daughter would go to visit her and take their dogs with them. They would take Mum to a park, set the dogs free and lay out an afternoon tea to share.

My daughter said to me that her grandmother's last gift to her was that she brought her closer to her cousin. So without knowing how we affect people we need to trust in the idea that every day that we are alive we are giving something of ourselves away to others. The purpose of our lives is to give generously of ourselves by loving and being loved. The purpose of life is love. It always has been.
 

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