Here's an essay on The Meaning of Life I wrote:
The universal questions of life that I have always found entertaining are: tattoos or piercings, paper or plastic, Ginger or Mary-Ann? Or better yet, love or money, half empty or half full, optimistic or pessimistic? What is the meaning of life? From the movies to philosophy class at an Ivy League School, the same question is constantly discussed, what is the meaning to life? As general and truly unexplainable that question is, it mostly sounds like a rhetorical one. That general questions leads to so many more questions such as who has that answer? At different points of our lives we seek that knowledge from different sources. While in childhood, you rely on your parents to answer, but as an adult, philosophers, religion, or other aspects of inspiration is where the data for that answer come from.
Well, there are a few different perspectives to have to answer that one question, optimistically, pessimistically, neutrality, or just plain lost.
Neutrality is a safe bet. When I ask my mother about her point of view of life and what to do she typically responds with I dont know and dont really care. With that answer, I look at her life and see that she has materials of value, and a home, with a family with love, but as a whole, she hasnt accomplished anything of significance. She has done more than most people, but her potential is so incredible that can simply be perceived as a waste. And looking at our society it shows that most people follow this decree. I can make this statement by which how many people work at dead end jobs and by looking at the percentage of unemployment and that the crime rates increase beyond the percentage to proportion of population. If they had goals and direction, like for instance the Chinese culture has the idealism of supporting the whole society regardless of ones own desires. Its not the most popular view, but non-the-less, it gives people in that society a reason or meaning to live.
With that culture in mind, it will also assist in proving that optimizium is the underlining best mentality to have. The largest part of being optimistic is being open-minded. Bruce Lee, a known philosopher from china, has many teachings of ancient Chinese history to remove hypocrisy with in their own teachings to be open-minded. He has tried for years to show Americans the beauty of his culture to reduce prejudice and fear from the American mindset of fear of the unknown. With these barriers removed, it allows both parties to gain and grow and develop. Development is another portion of being positive and reminds me of a quote from a song from the band called the Peacemakers. Roger Clyne sings, Evolution comes from the inside. Evolution, in that sense is speaking of the progression of mankind. Not just with other people and relationships, but also from within ourselves. Another large part of optimism is basic morals and principals that we were all taught as children growing up. Simple rules of being kind, sharing, empathetic, and sympathy are all things we try to develop in our own child at a young age with hopes that they do not loose sight of them. Clearly they are relevant because we all, as mentors and role models, push those teachings on a regular basis. Looking back at the glass as being half empty or half full, viewing it as half full makes the ability to see so many more ways to use what youve got, instead of focusing or dwelling on where the hell the other half went.
To be constantly negative, I define as someone who looks at life and only sees the losses and sacrifices made to get to where they are today. Take an example of myself in regards to me being in the Navy. Ive made many sacrifices to get here. The significant losses are lack of choices where I can live, not seeing friends and family back in my hometown, and losing the ability to quit without suffering severe consequences. But there is no gain in focusing on these conditions. The realization that these things happen in life should be seen as experiences, not a regret. Regrets lead to, If I could go back change what I did, would I? That thought is not considered a reflection of the past, but a digression. Digression meaning the thinking is not moving forward but stumbling backwards. Negativity in life is not productive. Even looking at the Bible, it doesnt support negativity. It being the most references texts ever printed, nowhere does it say to not care, to lose focus of the big picture. In fact, it states the exact opposite, to be caring, empathetic, sympathetic, and have faith. Weather you are religious or not, the teaching with in that book all have validity and bare truth. But it does talk about sacrifice and compromise in most the stories given.
From all the things written, sang, played, and taught, overall, the teachings of life dont really say positive or negative. Its more from an indifferent point of view. The idea to explore the validity of something as important as life itself should not be tainted with the slightest bit of sway in either direction. Any direct implication to go a certain path is not encouraged. I can verify this based on the fact there is no true answer to the meaning of life. Or at least it hasnt been written. So the interpretation is that you cant expect life to be easy, but we simply arent going to tell you that.
The universal questions of life that I have always found entertaining are: tattoos or piercings, paper or plastic, Ginger or Mary-Ann? Or better yet, love or money, half empty or half full, optimistic or pessimistic? What is the meaning of life? From the movies to philosophy class at an Ivy League School, the same question is constantly discussed, what is the meaning to life? As general and truly unexplainable that question is, it mostly sounds like a rhetorical one. That general questions leads to so many more questions such as who has that answer? At different points of our lives we seek that knowledge from different sources. While in childhood, you rely on your parents to answer, but as an adult, philosophers, religion, or other aspects of inspiration is where the data for that answer come from.
Well, there are a few different perspectives to have to answer that one question, optimistically, pessimistically, neutrality, or just plain lost.
Neutrality is a safe bet. When I ask my mother about her point of view of life and what to do she typically responds with I dont know and dont really care. With that answer, I look at her life and see that she has materials of value, and a home, with a family with love, but as a whole, she hasnt accomplished anything of significance. She has done more than most people, but her potential is so incredible that can simply be perceived as a waste. And looking at our society it shows that most people follow this decree. I can make this statement by which how many people work at dead end jobs and by looking at the percentage of unemployment and that the crime rates increase beyond the percentage to proportion of population. If they had goals and direction, like for instance the Chinese culture has the idealism of supporting the whole society regardless of ones own desires. Its not the most popular view, but non-the-less, it gives people in that society a reason or meaning to live.
With that culture in mind, it will also assist in proving that optimizium is the underlining best mentality to have. The largest part of being optimistic is being open-minded. Bruce Lee, a known philosopher from china, has many teachings of ancient Chinese history to remove hypocrisy with in their own teachings to be open-minded. He has tried for years to show Americans the beauty of his culture to reduce prejudice and fear from the American mindset of fear of the unknown. With these barriers removed, it allows both parties to gain and grow and develop. Development is another portion of being positive and reminds me of a quote from a song from the band called the Peacemakers. Roger Clyne sings, Evolution comes from the inside. Evolution, in that sense is speaking of the progression of mankind. Not just with other people and relationships, but also from within ourselves. Another large part of optimism is basic morals and principals that we were all taught as children growing up. Simple rules of being kind, sharing, empathetic, and sympathy are all things we try to develop in our own child at a young age with hopes that they do not loose sight of them. Clearly they are relevant because we all, as mentors and role models, push those teachings on a regular basis. Looking back at the glass as being half empty or half full, viewing it as half full makes the ability to see so many more ways to use what youve got, instead of focusing or dwelling on where the hell the other half went.
To be constantly negative, I define as someone who looks at life and only sees the losses and sacrifices made to get to where they are today. Take an example of myself in regards to me being in the Navy. Ive made many sacrifices to get here. The significant losses are lack of choices where I can live, not seeing friends and family back in my hometown, and losing the ability to quit without suffering severe consequences. But there is no gain in focusing on these conditions. The realization that these things happen in life should be seen as experiences, not a regret. Regrets lead to, If I could go back change what I did, would I? That thought is not considered a reflection of the past, but a digression. Digression meaning the thinking is not moving forward but stumbling backwards. Negativity in life is not productive. Even looking at the Bible, it doesnt support negativity. It being the most references texts ever printed, nowhere does it say to not care, to lose focus of the big picture. In fact, it states the exact opposite, to be caring, empathetic, sympathetic, and have faith. Weather you are religious or not, the teaching with in that book all have validity and bare truth. But it does talk about sacrifice and compromise in most the stories given.
From all the things written, sang, played, and taught, overall, the teachings of life dont really say positive or negative. Its more from an indifferent point of view. The idea to explore the validity of something as important as life itself should not be tainted with the slightest bit of sway in either direction. Any direct implication to go a certain path is not encouraged. I can verify this based on the fact there is no true answer to the meaning of life. Or at least it hasnt been written. So the interpretation is that you cant expect life to be easy, but we simply arent going to tell you that.