Finding Something True to Live For

“If life—the craving for which is the very essence of our being—were possessed of any positive intrinsic value, there would be no such thing as boredom at all: mere existence would satisfy us in itself, and we would want for nothing.”

— Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860)

The meaning of life is to find meaning in life: some overriding purpose that gives us drive, tenacity for living, and a passion for simply breathing. And breathing is inherently part of our purpose, simple as that might seem. What a privilege to some it is to simply breathe!

There is a great amount of truth in the above quote, but only if we strip all the pain and suffering we endure away in order to find the precious ore beneath the tailings of life. In the refining of this ore we come face-to-face with the wonder of existing, if incredibly on the cusp of time itself.

Think about the present moment. It is but a continual instant, fleeting in nature, but never more significant as we find God Almighty pressing in, within infinite measures, in every way, every day.

The present moment is a phenomenon so resplendently simple, yet wondrously difficult to comprehend. We try and catch it, enjoy it, make the most of it, and still we fail. We are asking too much of existence. We can’t grasp it. It’s too dynamic.

All the wonder in the entire universe is wrapped up in the day—in the present moment—as it is displayed—the glory of God—eternally.

Finding something to live for in the context of what we are discussing isn’t hard, if we have a will to live; to believe beyond sight that there is hope enough to swallow us whole in the divinity of virtue—love, joy and peace.

What is life if we have not found something to live for? The best news: that answer lies ahead of us; joy, triumph, meaning.

And if we are bemused about the purpose of life, and for the life of us cannot find it, we should break life down to look at the simplest of portions: the proverbial sunset, the never-ending motion of time, the sprouting of seed sown in the ground, and even the power in a natural disaster.

There is purpose in life when we consider we are alive, and though it sounds simple, we exist for a reason, and our job is to find out that reason, and not give up in the seeking and searching out process.

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The meaning of life is to find meaning in life: some overriding purpose that gives us drive, tenacity for living, and a passion for simply breathing.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.