Life has no objective purpose or meaning. The infiniteness of the universe makes everything relatively meaningless. Relative to my life and the world, I believe that the meaning and purpose of life is subjective. There are way too many things to consider when you have to give your life meaning, and everyone’s going to have a different list of things that are important to them. For example a Christian would say God gives their life purpose, someone might find purpose in helping other people, and someone else might find their purpose in their job. All of these reasons are reasonable because it keeps people living their lives. Completely understanding life is outside of humanities capabilities, but the next best thing is to try to understand your own life.
Reflection is necessary to understand yourself. One way to reflect on yourself is to look at what you desire. It is important to note that desire serves as a motivation for people to live their life in what they see is the best way. So in analyzing what you desire, you can understand why you do the things you do. Desire comes in many forms like possessions, experiences, or a state of being like well being. While the things people desire and desire itself is universal, the reasons and combination of things you desire says a lot about a person. In seeing what you desire and why you want it, you can realize traits you have. In reflecting on these reasons, people learn that there is a disconnect between how you view yourself and how you are viewed. For example, someone who may want to have a lot of money may think that money will give them happiness and security, while someone else would say that person is greedy. These judgements are made when people attempt to achieve what they want. People are remembered for their actions much more than their intentions, because actions have the biggest impact on the world. The way we do things and the results of our actions leave an impression on people that forms archetypes of traits like bravery, honesty, or kindness. By acting or not acting in ways that fit certain traits, you are assigning yourself to who you are in society’s eyes. Society decides if these traits are good if they are helpful in living a productive life, which varies across the world but generally consists of helping people in some way whether its your community, family, or yourself. For example, someone who is a good leader would be helpful in times of crisis. Someone who is strong or resilient would be able to push through bad times, and strength is often associated with being a good leader. Our qualities serve a purpose in helping us find not only who we are, but also our purpose.
Despite life having no universal discernible meaning, people can find purpose in their life by reflecting on who they are, and what they want to be in their life. Our abilities, qualities, and interests make our lives worth living because they motivate us to pursue them.