There is no point searching for the "Meaning of Life" ...

Some of my favourite books facilitate pursuit for the meaning of life (e.g. Sophie's World, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) and I'm afraid I have to admit to enjoying a solid debate with Born Again Christians, Mormons, Buddhists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Agnostics, Atheists and especially those who refuse to be labelled.  I also felt I had made great progress when I buried myself in an introspective black hole for a few weeks.

It seems almost a disappointment to come to the candy coated conclusion that I should not be "seeking the meaning of life" but rather "giving meaning to life".  It seems to me that all of the people I have argued with and challenged are in fact right.  They are giving meaning to life.  To argue that any one of them is wrong is to suggest that I know how to measure something as subjective as "perceived reality".

We can all make judgment calls on which approach we believe is morally correct or scientifically correct and democracy it seems suggests that "the most popular" approach must be correct.  But at the end of the day we get caught up in semantics if we try to pass absolute judgment on what constitutes "The Meaning of Life".

Of course we must also conclude, rather paradoxically, that some people have good reason for searching for "The Meaning of Life" - for these people it is the search, or the journey, that gives their life meaning ... now that I have established a circular argument I can conclude.

Should we be spending our lives "searching for meaning" or should we instead give our lives meaning?  As long the final thoughts I have on my death bed are not riddled with the realisation that "life was what happened to me while I was searching for something better".