What is the meaning of life to you?

[Queue]

Even though there is no consensus on the meaning of life, I think it's interesting to know what value life holds for each person and what motivates them. For me, life is an opportunity to influence others and shape the world (even in the tiniest way) and to leave a legacy when I die. Of course, everyone has their own opinions, so feel free to share yours. I've compiled several broad reasons for the meaning of life, so I'm curious which category you all feel most strongly toward.

Survival and temporal success

* ...to accumulate wealth and increase social status
* ...to compete or co-operate with others
* ...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance
* ...to gain and exercise power
* ...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
* ...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction
* ...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially
* ...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate
* ...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means (see life extension)

Wisdom and knowledge

* ...to be without question, or to keep asking questions
* ...to explore, to expand beyond our frontiers
* ...to learn from one's own and others' mistakes
* ...to seek truth, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom
* ...to try to discover and understand the meaning of life
* ...to experience anything if not something in this world

Ethical

* ...to express compassion
* ...to live in peace with each other, and in harmony with our natural environment (see utopia)
* ...to give and receive love
* ...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
* ...to serve others, or do good deeds
* ...to work for justice and democracy

Religious, spiritual and esoteric

* ...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context
* ...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace
* ...to become God, or God-like
* ...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. God)
* ...to follow the "Golden Rule"
* ...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity)
* ...to understand and follow the "Word of God"
* ...to worship, serve, or achieve union with God

Other

* ...to advance natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race
* ...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future human
* ...to protect humanity or more generally the environment
* ...to contribute to collective meaning ("we" or "us") without having individual meaning ("I" or "me")
* ...to die, or become a martyr
* ...to find a purpose, a "reason" for living that hopefully raises the quality of one's experience of life, or even life in general
* ...to live, and enjoy the passage of time
* ...to pursue a dream, vision, or destiny
* ...to relate, connect, or achieve unity with others
* ...to seek and find beauty
* ...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose)
* ...still some do not even think there is any purpose whatsoever (see nihilism)

[musi]

wisdom, truth and knowledge would be the things i would choose from your list, Queue. however, i must say i am too young still to have formed my opinion of meaning and purpose of life or the purpose of meaning of life. i have my values, which can change with time, because i do not have stiff ideas about how things should be, i believe, that a meaning of life should be in constant development, an unstopping progress towards knowledge and wisdom. this idea of mine is likely to change in future, so i do not take it that seriously. when i was younger i thought i should live my life in such a way, that if i had to live it again, i would like to repeat all i've done. i has succeeded so far :). for other true widoms of life i am probably unexperienced, for i haven't tried many other things life can offer, like having a family and children, thus i cannot compare.
i always thought i could sell my soul for knowledge like Faustus, because that would really be a great thing to learn things about life, and then i met my buddhist teaching and realized i did not have to sell my soul to understand life. :) so, let's just say i am in a process of development - to better understand myself and thus be able to help other people - and hopefully will be till i die and will go on in future lives as well.

[vierdreieins]

I'd fall under the Wisdom and Knowledge category, adding '...to pursue a dream, vision, or destiny' into the mix. I've never given the meaning of life overall much thought, really, except that I know what I want to live for: to aquire as much knowledge about the world and the human race as possible, and to possibly use that knowledge to the betterment of mankind. (But the second part isn't mandatory for me to live happily.)

I've never lived happily without a dream to pursue, and I don't plan on ending that anytime soon. Right now it's to go to college, and hopefully, after that, I'll continue to add and complete goals until I die. It's what keeps me going.

[Blade of Regret]

I've chosen one from each category :D

* ...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book

* ...to explore, to expand beyond our frontiers

* ...to express compassion

* ...to worship, serve, or achieve union with God

* ...to seek and find beauty

These are the ones that really stuck out to me, these are what express me, though vaguely

[Hietanen]

My goal in life is to just be and live I have no ambitions, no goals, no money and man, I don`t know if there really is anything I want, okay I`d like the worldmarket and national market to stay reasonably steady so I`d be able to feed myself sufficiently and yea, good weathers for the summerjogs.

[blp]

I see a shrink, which I suppose might result from a sort of desire for meaning. 'Know thyself' said the delphic oracle to Oedipus. To which I would add, 'in order to master thyself.'

[Maduro_Scotty]

I see a shrink, which I suppose might result from a sort of desire for meaning. 'Know thyself' said the delphic oracle to Oedipus. To which I would add, 'in order to master thyself.'

Well, the unexamined life is not worth living. Than again, for many people, ignorance is bliss. :!:

[Jezebel]

Well, the unexamined life is not worth living. Than again, for many people, ignorance is bliss. :!:
http://smilies.storagebin.us/smilies/rotfl.gif Hahaha!!! If that is the standard, then most people's lives are not worth living! :D