ince I can think more clearly at this hour.
I was once asked what was the meaning of life and what motivates people to live. I heard these two questions not once or twice. And when I was asked again last month, I didn't have an answer. Just now, reading back, I realized that I answered this question to a friend before.
These two questions are closely related, yet they have different answers. And there are different answers from each person. This is my answer.
The basic meaning of life is to live.
Our basic motivation to live is avoid death.
When we were babies, we weren't afraid of death because we didn't know what it was. When we learned what it is, we became afraid of it and avoid it. So by avoiding death, we live. That's just an on-the-surface answer.
An in-depth one from me is different. What's the meaning of life for me at the moment? To enjoy what I have before I lose them. What motivates me to live? First, for personal reasons, my friends and family. Next, maybe my goals? I don't think my goals have that much of an impact on motivating me to live. I want to become a famous composer and musician some day. I want to fluently speak different languages and spread my music to other countries by learning different languages. But my goals are currently very far from my reach right now. I think if I didn't have my goals, I would still live for my family and friends. It's because it would be stupid if I leave them and hurt them in the process. Yet, even if I have no family and no goals, I would still probably continue to make myself go on. It might be cruel of me to say this, but I think the brave ones are those who continue to face the hardships of life. To die is to run away from problem. Even if we end up suffering a lot, at least we are brave enough to face them. I know this is something unsuitable for me to say, and people who read this might think I'm saying it too lightly because I haven't experienced certain things. But that's truly what I believe at the moment. And I think most people suffered at least once in their life. We all have our own past.
Recently, a friend of mine talked about how she had a night in which her friends and her talk about their suffering in the past including family violence, alcoholic parents, divorced parents, mental health, etc. She also mentioned that it's amazing how people have the strength to face those kind of problems and take care of responsibilities. I told her, "Sometimes, the people with the brightest smiles happen to be the people with the darkest past." We won't know how to appreciate life unless we suffered at least once.
No comments:
Post a Comment