I think we can all relate to the "what is the point of it all?" feeling. When you strip away the distractions of life and really dwell with your own thoughts, you begin to see through the thinly veiled illusion that society has set up for us. We are kind of like hamsters on a wheel, running in circles and carrying out repetitive behaviors because those repetitive behaviors are necessary to keep society under a measure of control. If it wasn't for that hamster wheel, life would be very different and the safety and security that we enjoy in our society wouldn't be there at all. So, it's not hard to see why the wheel is set up the way it is. But there are those of us who see through the BS and realize that what we are effectively living for is a complete mystery and, from our limited perspective, it all looks like nonsense. What is the meaning of life? Not a person alive has the authority to answer that question.

The problem is, once you realize this you can't "un-realize" it. I constantly compare it to the decision to take the red pill in the matrix. Many of us relate to Cypher's character...the one who was willing to betray his friends to re-enter the matrix and forget about the truth of the real world because the truth was so bleak, dark, and dreary.

We experience that same disconnect. Nothing we do ultimately seems to matter. If you look at the scope of the world through a long enough lens, life on earth will one day be burnt up by the sun and everything that we have ever known or will know will be gone. That is depressing on a level that I can't even begin to describe. It takes the fairy tale notions we were fed as children and just craps all over them until the fairy tale that once inspired exists like poison in our veins.

That being said, is there any hope for us to find a meaningful existence when we let the gravity of that truth settle in? I think it depends on the perspective you take. I think we can dial back our view of the world and zoom in on just the aspect of the world that encompasses our time here. Is it necessary that our actions have meaning in some objective or permanent sense? Why do we feel that our actions have to extend beyond our lifetime in order to matter?

We've been gifted this experience during this very short window of time. We are the universe contemplating itself and, when it all comes to a halt, will our individual existence be more than just a speck...a vapor in the wind...that disappears as quickly as it is formed? If that's the case, and if there is no objective meaning to our lives, then the only solution, I think, is to find the subjective meaning of our lives. To realize that this is all we've got and that each moment we have is precious. And, in that sense, the purpose we live for no longer extends beyond our life, but it encompasses our life. What could I do with this life that would create the deepest meaning for myself and the people I love? I think when you find an answer to that question, an answer that creates an emotional reaction withing you so strong that you cry, then you will be able to come to peace with the meaninglessness of it all. After all, it's a product of our own ego that we need our lives to mean something more than what they are. When we accept our true position in life, I think we can begin to move beyond the despair that comes from the lies we were told as children and find true joy and peace in the moment.

In the end, though, you need to answer that question. What drives you? What inspires you? What causes you to change your momentum? These are the things that will bring greater peace to your life as you lean into them and focus more fully on them. Everything else just sort of dissolves like salt in water.

Also, I find great peace and solace in this video:



I definitely encourage you to watch it. It puts everything into perspective and I think he does so in a way that is so peaceful and serene.