Final Paper: What makes life meaningful? (updated 6/13 AM)

What makes life meaningful?

For some people a sense of meaning in their lives comes very easily. Others not so much. I believe it's just as possible for a person to find no meaning in their life as it is to find a good deal of it. Partly, this would have to do with what a given life consists of, but more importantly - how the person whose life it is perceives it. One might consider the people and things around them whose company they enjoy the source of meaningfulness in their lives. Others, maybe slightly more introverted fellows could possibly understand the meaningfulness in their lives as coming from the level of contentment that they have with the life they are living. It's become clear to me that meaningfulness is very indefinite. Arguable too.

The time I have spent thinking about this question has lead me to continue believing something that pretty much goes without saying: An individual person's understanding of meaning in their own life is labeled by them and by them alone. Intentionally or not. A person must create a sense of meaning on their own for them to have any sense of it at all. Meaning doesn't simply rely on a persons surroundings, or with what they spend their time doing. Just as with so many things, the meaningfulness of a life depends on whose eyes you are looking through; your perspective.

Many will gauge meaningfulness on their own perceptions of success. Lets say there was a man who was born into a family that was very financially well off. From his birth he has been nearly smothered in paid-for care - butlers and maids tending to his every minor need or desire. So much so, that as he grew older it was the only way to live that ever knew and with so much at his fingertips he found little reason to explore other walks of life. If success means financial bounty and ease, then this man was born with it. And if a life in which one has all the joys that money can buy is meaningful, than this man's life would be meaningful throughout. As you are reading this, you may or may not naturally think of ways that his story could be said to describe a meaningless life. Some may think to consider meaningful aspects of life to be things having to do with social interaction or overcoming obstacles. A person born without a reason to do any work for a living likely not seize the same opportunities.

That being said, the content of a life does not have to change for a persons perception of its meaningfulness to change. Seeing as meaningfulness is not fact but opinion, an idea of what is meaningful might amend as quickly as anything else an individual might change their mind on. An individual's experiences will change their values. Children often have very different aspirations to when they are adults. With every new experience, a person has a slightly (or largely) revised view of the world. Growing up causes some people to fall to their knees at the feet of depression. A child might at at young age aspire to have some sort of heroic job when they grow older older - such as a fireman or an astronaut. What's cooler than a uniform? Usually that wont be the case. More often than not they will eventually forget about that idea and find a more reasonable or viable career choice.

When confronted with the idea that meaning in life can come with happiness and contentment alone - one might think to argue that in order to live a meaningful life a person must experience unhappiness of some sort so as to understand life in a more rounded way; if you experience no unhappiness in your whole life you cannot live a fulfilling one or a meaningful one. I can understand why one might think this, as meaning in life can be associated with a well rounded human experience. When I argue that happiness and a meaningful life go hand in hand, I like to think of happiness as a positive attitude. Happiness is not specific - it can be attributed to anything. An individual might be given an opportunity that would allow for happiness in them, but not in another person. If someone is happy for their whole lives, it would not mean that their life has been stale or that they didn't experience hardship or obstacles to overcome. I would take it as meaning that they found ways to appreciate their life throughout.

Meaningfulness is arguable, but no one can defy the meaningfulness that an individual can give something in their own mind. Right now I personally believe that meaningfulness can be leveled with a person's content and happiness in life. If I were to try to improve the meaningfulness of my own life - I suppose that looking inward would be the way to do it. I know that I have a somewhat bipolar personality. I'll find myself in states of real unhappiness as as well as joy and they are sometimes difficult to read (even as me). When I'm feeling down, I'll try to keep in mind the things that I find truly important. It would be meaningful, and would contribute to my overall happiness if I would try to look past the insignificant and focus on positive and significant parts of my life. Life throws shit at you, but taking one step at a time and keeping your surroundings in mind can be a life saver.