The Meaning of Life - Not just another dust in the wind theory.
I grew up in the south in the 1960's. Married when I was 18 and
joined the Army when I was 23. I traveled to Germany then back
to the states where I lived in Connecticut for a while and then
Tennessee for 10 years. I am now living in Maine.
Of all the traveling I have done in my life I have heard people
asking one question constantly. It doesn't matter if you are
religious or not. We all want to know "What is the meaning of
life?" I myself have asked that question a thousand times.
Socrates and Plato and a thousand other deep thinkers of their
times have tried to define or explain the meaning of life. Each
with his own perception and understanding and most times with a
very complicated explanation.
It was not until I took up hiking in the mountains of Tennessee
that I had plenty of time to ponder the complexities of this age
old question. Being a Christian I was raised to believe certain
things and to look at life in certain ways. But as I got older
and began studying and searching for myself I began to realize
that what I was taught as a child was not as complicated as some
would have had me believe.
I always wondered why God would have put us here simply to
suffer through this life. After all he does love us and of that
I have no doubt. So why then? I studied and pondered and
reflected in deep thought just like many have before me, and
like them, to no avail.
Then one day while hiking the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee I
came to a clearing overlooking a valley. It was a clear day with
the sun shining bright. As I looked out across the valley I saw
an eagle soaring on the wind. And as usual the thought crossed
my mind that it would be really nice to be able to soar like
that. Then I thought, do eagles look at us and wish they were
like us?
That is when something inside me clicked. It was more like an
explosion or an awakening of sorts. The meaning of life was so
simple that I had looked right past it thinking that it would be
some big discovery of some sort. Some words of wisdom that would
make me look like a genius. Instead three words kept going
through my brain. Thundering as if God himself was speaking them
directly into my thoughts.
We spend our entire lives from the moment we take our first
breath til our last one is used up trying to be something we
aren't. Whether we are trying to get a job by seeming more
experienced or trying to win someones heart by becoming the
person they are looking for. We act differently in different
situations. Why?
It is in our nature I suppose or at least the nature of the
flesh. But God's nature is to be the same yesterday, today and
tomorrow. And since we are to strive to be more "God-like",
which I used to think meant to try to be perfect, then the
meaning of life is nothing more than to "JUST BE YOU!"
Yep, it is just that simple. Be you no matter what happens or
where you are or who you are with or what you are trying to
achieve. If you can do this you will be something that the
majority of people will never be. Good, bad or indifferent you
will Just Be You.