One of my favorite motion pictures is Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. Monty Python is an acquired taste and like many of their sketch shows and movies The Meaning Of Life is uneven. However, there are some uproariously funny scenes and some sharply observed satirical truths revealed in that film.
Philosophers across cultures and down through millennia have pondered the question of what is the meaning of life? Ultimately it is up to each individual to decide for themselves the meaning for their specific lives but I believe there are some universal truths about life and one definitive purpose for us all.
It is true that unproductive days lead to unproductive weeks, months and eventually years. When one is young, life extends seemingly endlessly into the future and there appears to be time for anything and everything. As the old song lyric goes, “…it’s later than you think…”One should make each day count in its own way realizing that none of us knows when our particular life may reach its final terminus.
Keep your eye on the ball. It is so easy to get waylaid and sidetracked by what’s immediately before us and the minutia of existence. As Michael Mantell first said, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Stay focused on what’s important in your life despite what others might think or advise. Remember, it’s your life and no one else can live it for you – no matter how hard they try.
Try not to take things so personally. Believe it or not, most people do not care one wit for or about you. There is no grand conspiracy plotting your downfall. Dark forces are not arrayed against you. “Feces happens” as the familiar adage suggests, deal with it and move on. Resentment builds up, like barnacles on a ship. It can burden you, diminishing your appreciation and enjoyment of life. Shake off adversity, pick yourself up by your bootstraps and try, try again.
Reading broadens your mind and travel widens your perspective, do both avidly and often. Be sure your reading is from credible sources and when you ‘re traveling try to get behind the scenes into “real life” rather than just cruising the tourist highlights. It brings an appreciation of people, places and cultures other than your own and also realize that there are plenty of people, places, cultures and regions right here in the good old USA that need appreciating and understanding.
Choose ambition and difficulty over “settling” and ease. Scientists have done studies and found that successful people all have one trait in common, it’s persistence; people who succeed are those who stick to a task and don’t give up. They don’t say things are “good enough” or “I’ve had it”, they just keep trying. Everyone should have a dream and a goal, realistically achievable of course, but be sure to have one and then work hard to accomplish it.
President John F. Kennedy is quoted as saying “The Greeks defined happiness as the full use of your powers along lines of excellence.” That’s a wonderful template for a meaningful life. President Theodore Roosevelt said, “Do what you can, with what you have where you are.” That’s superb advice. Just because we individually are only one person and can’t do everything doesn’t mean we should sit back and do nothing at all.
I believe the meaning of life is to be your best, not to be “the best”. There is only one “best” but each of us can be the most outstanding person we can possibly be. No one can ask more of you. Being your best in life, at work, in your family, in the community, with others specifically and the world generally will make this a better place to be. At the end of your time on this Earth when Death comes for you, take comfort in the fact that you lived your life in such a way that everything that could have been done was done.
We all make mistakes. We all have regrets to one degree or another. Take the time you have now to correct those mistakes and to right those regrets. Act immediately to be the best person you can be, that’s the meaning of life.