a life meaningful to live in

(picture courtesy of tamucc.edu)

I have a friend who told me, 'My life is meaningful. I am happy with my life. I don't need a girlfriend." Yet, when I really thought about his life, I doubted it. This is a respond from a man who is 30 years old, and he is still single. When asked why he doesn't want to look for a girlfriend, he gave me ten 'good' excuses which eventually shut me up.

Come to think of it, I don't think my thought really matters. Who am I to judge his life is not happy? It's his life anyway.

On the other hand, I like to think about what it means to live a meaningful life.

You see, nothing in this world has meaning in itself unless we individuals give it a meaning. For example, the word 'dog' has no meaning until people give it a meaning of a common four-legged animal, and kept as a pet. My kids would not know what 'dog' is unless I explain to them. Imagine if I were to tell them it is a flying creature, they will associate it with a bird.

I like to think our lives behaves the same way too. Our life is basically meaningless unless we give it a meaning. And until we give our life a purpose to live, our life is hopeless.

I think this is utterly important as I realize that children at a very young age do not what they want from life. It's absolutely normal and OK of them not to realize now. But we as teachers need to impart on every child the very reason why they are coming to school.

I used to lecture a group of kids preparing for UPSR this year. When asked the reason they come to school, they said they were there to study and to get many A's. When asked of the meaning of learning English, Science or even Bahasa Melayu, they had no reply.

Hence, the conventional thinking used by many parents to force their children to think coming to school is to get good grades can no longer be used in today's world. Children need better reasons than this.

They need to know they are there not just to learn some boring grammar, but also to learn some useful skills which are essential for them to work in the workforce next time as much as to communicate effectively with others in a manner which is ethically desirable.

What about when when we are adults now? How do we know if we are living a meaningful life?

I don't know myself too well. But I do know if I am living a life with purpose, knowing what i am doing, what I want to achieve, knowing the significance of the things I want, learning new things from each failure or mistakes, I am living a life which is meaningful.

Yet, it's always a struggle and not easy to know if what I do is correct or is leading me to a meaningful outcome. New things I learn and take in may not always be the right thing to do. Sometimes I am caught in a moral dilemma of which decision to make. This requires a lot of deep thinking and practical logical alternatives, in addition to listening to what other people think.

It turns out that people who acclaim themselves living a meaningful life have every reason for their actions. Every decision they make has its own justification. Whether it's right or wrong, that's another matter. That's their own business.

After all that is said and done, it's never been easy to live a meaningful life. Frequent evalution and reflection of oneself may help in the process.

Is this what gives life a meaningful one to live in?

(picture courtesy of whatidiscover)

Perhaps, I should play the song 'When I grow up' by Pussycats Dolls. It will be great, won't it?