Why do we exist? Is that a legit question? Have we tried to find answers? Yes. Have we been successful? Not so much.
Should we try again? Why not?
In a life that is meant to be composed of various stages, we set goals for each of those stages. We set deadlines for everything that we do. We have a proper timing for getting up, a proper dress code for every occasion, and a proper code of conduct for every place that we visit.
We also set various reasons for ourselves to do various tasks that we intend to do. Every company these days prepares a vision statement that outlines the goals and the basic objective for its existence.
Similarly, we set goals for ourselves. For example, take a simple thing like studying for an MBA entrance examination. We study for the examination to qualify for our desired institution, wherein we can obtain a degree that may be needed for a better career.
Fair enough.
So the bottom line is that there is a reason behind everything that we do. And we do know this fact. Hence, we lead our lives in the way we do by focusing on the reason, and, then, the way forward.
Yet, why is it that we are not as curious to find out the reason for the existence of life itself? Look at it this way: We tell ourselves, that in order to live a better life, we must struggle our way through academics or jobs in order to earn enough to live. Or maybe to live a life doing something we are passionate about, we need to fight various obstacles that come in the way, to get the so-called good life.
So, I say, if there is a reason to do everything in life, there must also be a reason to live. What is that? Let’s see.
Why Are We Alive?
According to what I’ve read, one school of thought believes that there is a different world out there from where we have been transported here and on the basis of the right or wrong that we do here, we will be rewarded or punished there.
Another belief says that life is a gift to living beings to experience different things in a journey. Some believe that we exist because of karma, to suffer the wrongdoings of our past generation so that we could breakeven everything and get a better life the next time around.
According to another belief, it can be possible that we are all just chemical compounds that exist due to a specific proportion of elements in the surroundings. If the surroundings would have been different, maybe we would have looked different, eaten differently and behaved differently.
Also, evolution is a way of life. We definitely look different from than how we did in another era, and with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, we will look even different in the coming eras. A new race, maybe in the future, will replace humans. But then if everything is going to come to an end, then why at all do we struggle every day, striving for the so-called good life.
Is it for the legacy?
I mean it’s all going to end someday and nobody will even remember us. Maybe if we have made a contribution to humankind, we would be; but then, would we be here to see it? No.
Science suggests that we are just chemical compounds that will exist only as long as we are provided with food and water, and when that stops, we will cease to exist. And a new race of mankind will take over. Also, science suggests that everything originated from the Big Bang, but how is it that the Big Bang happened in the first place?
There had to be a mass of atoms that broke apart in order for the solar system and other galaxies to exist. Which means that there definitely is some sort of superpower that created that mass of atoms. And if there is a superpower, then there has to be a reason for our existence. But that brings us back to the question I posed in the beginning. Why are we here?
People who have actually thought about all of this have given up their lives and gone in search of these answers. Yet, nobody has ever been successful. So, what to do?
What Will Give Meaning To Our Lives?
Living a life without an objective or without knowing its purpose is like preparing for an examination for which there is no passing percentage. So even after studying and taking the examination, you don’t know whether you have done well or not.
Let’s do a quick recap. Till now, we know that we are going to die one day and everything that we have done will be forgotten. So everything we strive for is a waste. Also, everything we strive for, “the good life”, is not permanent. So, that means everything we do has actually no meaning at all. Also, we will never be able to find the actual answer to the reason for our existence.
Then, what am I supposed to do to be satisfied, to lead a life that has some meaning?
What will give me maximum satisfaction?
When a person is dying, in the last moments just before their life comes to an end, in that very brief time period of 20-30 seconds, they see their entire life in pictures – whatever they have experienced, their ups and downs, growth, challenges, basically their story.
They will definitely be overwhelmed with the way in which they have survived their challenges and also the growth that they had, but their life is coming to an end and they know it. So what will make them happier?
It will be the happiness that they have given to others who are still alive. The positive contribution that they have made to other people’s lives who are still alive. So even though they are dying, it is as if they have given a new, or maybe a better life, to the ones who are still there fighting their own struggle for the so-called good life.
So the next time we do anything that may have an impact on others too, let us just ask ourselves – What would the dying person’s reaction be to this action of mine?
Would they be satisfied with what I’m doing right now? If that’s a yes, then maybe, maybe that’s just about it.