The meaning of life (idea)

The moment seems to come to every person during the duration of their natural life when they begin to ponder that question and find themselves at a dead stop as to the answer.

“What is the meaning of life? Wouldn’t you like to know? I would. “Maybe then we would have purpose. Dear God, Hi this is Ink, I know I haven’t been all that faithful lately, but I was wondering. What is the meaning of life? Thanks.”

But even then, if we knew, would it be important enough to care about?

It’s very strange when I see people in some of my classes failing because of lack of effort even when they know that they need the class to graduate.

“Not to be insensitive, but unless you pass it now and get out, guess what? You have to do the same thing next year!” So why do they waste their time sitting there, doing nothing, not caring, when they will just have to do it again, and still hate it. Are these people our future? Sometimes I think the next major disaster that will wipe out all life on this planet is human stupidity.

And you know what else I notice about people? If you get one by him/herself and actually talk to the person it’s amazing how interesting their life is. You get to know how they think and feel and live. But if you talk to the same person in the masses he/she could come across as an ignorant sap, or a pathetic bore.

So today I was thinking about all this and I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. For some people this is easy, and can be summed up in a few words, Don’t go to hell. Yeah hell isn’t my choice eternal vacation spot either but I’m not too worried. I think that people value that stuff too much. I think they should worry more about what is going on now then valuing their afterlife so much. Now don’t get me wrong, if your religious beliefs tell you to live that way, great, not my problem though. And just because you believe that, doesn’t mean that I got it wrong.

But I digress, back to the topic of the meaning of life. I was recently talking to my mother and told her about my aspirations to snowboard, and get into parachuting and all that other “extreme” stuff. She replied with the usual, “But that’s so dangerous!” Yeah, so what? We are going to die anyway aren’t we? Not that I’m planning to die from any of that. I’m actually planning just the opposite, to live.

What is truly living? To get up and go to work everyday at 6:00 A.M., have lunch at 12:00 P.M. right on the dot, make a five figure salary before dinnertime, and get home in time to pick up the kids from school and take them to the baseball field? To some people, that is life! For 30-50 years of their natural life, that's what they live for. It is life.

I just have doubts about that for myself. I mean if I got a job like that I would always be dissatisfied with myself, Ink, when are you going to climb Mount Everest, Ink when are you going to visit the tombs of those Chinese philosophers in the peaks of the Da Hinggan Ling range, and most of all, Ink when are you going to spend you’re life pursuing the meaning of life? But the more I think about it, the more I think I got it. The meaning of life is staring us in the face and we just have to embrace it!

It isn’t a single answer, it isn’t 42, it isn’t Kennedy spelled backwards, and it isn’t some strange metaphysical enlightenment. There it is, it’s right there. Some of us search for the meaning of life our whole life and we never realize that we already found it before we begin the search. I bet you’re just dying to know now, I won’t tell you, but if you think about it I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Just like we all do at some point.

I don’t know maybe I’m crazy, I’m different, I’m not the average guy with dog. I’m Ink, and I finally realized both the meaning of life and my purpose in relation to the aforementioned subject. I’ll search all my life and die knowing that I already knew. That’s a great thought to end on.

But before I go I have something to ask of you, next time you’re out in the world doing who-knows-what, think about somebody else’s perspective. Next time you see that crazy lady with an afro holding up the sign on the street dancing for money, just ponder for a minute, maybe she’s not crazy, maybe she has found out the meaning, just as you have.

I guess we all will eventually understand, some people just seem to get it before others, it may take you your whole life, it may take you one day, and it may take you five minutes, but when it comes you’ll know it. It’s like love, when you feel that, you know that something amazing just occurred, even when you might be unsure of what it is, inside, you know, you really do.

So next time you see me aspiring for the far reaches of the troposphere on the pinnacle of Mount Everest, hiking through the lush jungles of the Amazon, or maybe even exploring the farthest reaches of China, seeking the legendary center of the earth, don’t call me crazy! Take a minute to look at it from my side, and think about the meaning of life, and then smile.

Inkwell out.