Meaning of life is...

Lord Khan

... a bad statement as everybodies live is some what different even if just a little bit. but there is no meaning somebody else can tell you. it is your life after all.

I'm just writing this as I am getting tired of muppets post jokes up here. We have a Humour Forum if you want to post a joke.

And there are those posting pointless questions that the answer is clear but they are just hoping to get the answer that they dream of in the situation.

Don't mis-understand that part. I have nothing against them. but the fact is there are a lot of others who then feel well afraid to post anything incase they look like an idiot which is a shame.

Anyway, a while a good I had been told I had a major cancer infection, that was not in any way able to be removed. a few months ago I had a hemerouge, but then a second set of tests(quite painful to be honest) showed that it was something different but the doctors weren't too sure and well after confering with several other top doctors over the world they decided to operate, which they did last month as some people know. But they only found out a few days ago that what I have is immune to radiotain treatment afterwards to removed the last pieces which are in dangerous areas of my skull. so I have to go in for another round of surgery that is more dangerous than the first. which will be in the start of the new year. *(was hoping not to return to cork)*

anyway why am I saying this... it's not the main point. it's just some background to my point. I'm not looking for sympath as I don't know the majority of you.

I've read a lot of the posts, some are excessively fake, some are excessively pathetically usless in the sense that they are asking redundant questions. My life has been given a rough end-time line because of all of this. but so many of you are wasting yours, you could end yours tomorrow like that. Ever since I found out about this I have been mopping a lot. But since the operation I have begun to relise that life is finite, most of us try to ignore that fact. I now understand that I can't waste time, I don't have it even if I get knocked down or something or in 10-15 die from what I have in my head.

Don't overthink things, that doesn't mean do the first thing that comes into your head, it means don't spend 10 years thinking about "hmmm should I or shouldn't I" or "will I or won't I"

You will be able to give your self the answer and you will know if you are giving a truthful honest answer or not. Don't play childish games with your self. To be honest for early teens it's part of your life to go through the mistake questions, there is no wrong answers in certain questions til you reach a certain ages or not.

Think about your life, think about the good thinks, think about those few thinks that make you happy just to think about them.
Do this when you are feeling down.

Don't take the stupid attitude of
"Oh I'll just sit back and let life show me what to do". That is the true waster of life.

The meaning of this post... to be honest nothing and everything. if you can't see anything by now just forget it all.

Just...
Don't waste your life waiting for something exciting to happen... DO IT!
Don't waste your life wondering about something... FIND OUT!
Don't sit back and wait for something to come to you... GO TO IT!
Don't Don't... Do something you want to honestly do with your life, do something you know you want to do.


future is here, purely because the past is what was at the start of this post.

Jim

if u want to take douglas adams p.o.v the meaning of life the universe any everythin is 42, or is that somethin completly different, its hard to know with him.

anyway, i think there is no great meaning of life, just the universe. THe orgins of the universe cannot yet be comprehended by our minds as they are. its like if u went back to a 17th century painter and tried to explain the deeper intricaces of the internet to him, he would not understand where all this space comes out of nowhere [like tryin to explain to my dad where songs are stored on mp3 players] we do not yet have a fuller understanding of how the universe works, and we must educate ourselves more.

Gordon

Hmm, I think you missed the point of his post Jim... maybe not.

Sorry to hear about your cancer infection, I hope it gets better quickly.

As for your post, yes you are absolutely right. Sometimes people just need assurance, sometimes people honestly can't think for themselves. Sometimes.. you just need to let it all out, you've just got to shout.

I don't think a lot of the posts are "pathetically useless" as you say. You said it yourself - it is your own life, no-body can understand what exactly you are feeling so therefore other people's posts to some may seem useless, but not to themselves. (well I hope not)

And there are those posting pointless questions that the answer is clear but they are just hoping to get the answer that they dream of in the situation.

That happens the world over, it is a way for us to rest assured that what we want to do is OK to do. Not everyone feels good enough to go out and live life like there is no tomorrow, not everyone thinks the same way as you.

But I hope you manage to instill it onto people from your post.

Lord Khan

I can only wish gordon, but having spent enough time in life I know that most people won't take any notice of what I've typed...
with the first reply being considered proof from my end as meaning of life is nothing.

For the record dogulas Adams write fiction which isn't real, to those who don't get it. And I find jimeatsmenu's reply hypocritcal in that final part "we must educate ourselves more"

but don't mis-understand me this is not a hostile rebutile against jimeatsmenu, I have nothing against him nor do I know him so I can't.

I glad that Gordon seems to see the point in my post, I must apoligies if it is unclear just currently typing isn't fun for me .

But don't go through life seeking assurances on every possible action that you do or are considering doing.

chernobyl

ahhh, there is none. It just exists.

Bard

The fact that "42" is just as valid an answer as any to "what is the meaning of life?" puts a lot of things into perspective all at once.

Lord Khan

well so far gordon is the only one who gets it.

"the meaning of life is just something I stuck in as a title.

Durden

Lord Khan, that was a stroke of genius. I'd like to ask your permission to take that (with full recognition) to be used in a slightly odd thingy I'm writing.
I spent most of the last few years mopping about, not really doing anything for myself, just reacting, but now I at least try to try and make stuff happen... my life has never been better. It hurts occasianly, but thats part of the experience... I hope that everything works out, it would be a loss to everyone otherwise.

Lord Khan

Sure thing Durden.

You actually brought up a good point there I had forgotten, my memory really is crap atm

but there is sorta 2 types of people most see acting and re-acting ... waiting for it to happen. Most government are like that.

I was a re-acting kind of person my self still well a short while ago. used to wait for things to happen before considering doing anything... it's not a bad thing, only reason I changed was life-expenance and all that kinda stuff.

Durden

Thank you very much. I'll email it you if you want. Remember that this is very much a work in progress.

Lord Khan

Originally posted by Durden
Thank you very much. I'll email it you if you want. Remember that this is very much a work in progress.

well if it's not too much hassle for you then yes

kamobe

The orgins of the universe cannot yet be comprehended by our minds as they are.

To think about that for a second, we're a smart monkey....
Try to explain the concept of philosophy to a monkey, and you'll fail, cause he'll simply never understand. There has to be a boundary to what we can conceive also. Which brings me to:

But since the operation I have begun to relise that life is finite, most of us try to ignore that fact

You don't KNOW that

I'm personally very apathetic, and wouldn't grab hold of anything unless a set of circumstances brought themselves about, that cause me to act (eg woman, annoying incumbent telecoms operator etc). And, currently, I'm quite happy with that

Lord Khan

trust me on the subject of finite life. I am using it in single relavance. In a single Life and that I am sure, very sure.

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

logic1

As is often said but rarely followed "Carpe Diem"

Hope everything works out for you Khan

.logic.

Lord Khan

Don't be sorry for me.

I'll be back in Cork hospital in the new year get to met all those who don't have more than months, I do know how they felt.

this post is not about me though, it's about everybody. Just don't sit around and waste the time of your life. it doesn't mean run out and do everything on the spur of the moment, no I mean don't try to over think things or don't go seeking clearance of others when you know it's not going to work.

Karl Hungus

Originally posted by Mercury_Tilt
I was a bit surprised in the sense that she mentioned that some people are "not like that in real life.... they just post like that on boards"

My issue is its all real. How can you make up an internet personality? why would someone? There is no reality there is no sense. You might aswelll take it for face value.

I wouldn't think that people would make up a new personallity, but rather exaggerate themselves, so to speak. I'm told that I'm not quite as loud in person.


But as far as the original post goes, I'm sorry to hear about that Khan, and I hope the operation's a success. I cant begin to imagine what that must be like, tbh. Myself, I'm quite paranoid, and at one stage I was so terrified at the idea that something might go wrong when I was having my appendix removed, that I nearly refused to have it done, and tried to get out of the hospital. So I can't even pretend to know what you're going through, and I can't pretend to understand your point of view on life, unless I go through the same thing, or something to that effect.

I'm sitting here, and I'm actualy feeling kinda depressed at this, mainly that I don't know how to relate to it. I don't really know what I want to do with my life, either. I know I want to be in a band, be a musician, and all, but there's nothing 'solid' that I find truly appeals to me, nothing I'd truly feel happy about taking up a good portion of my life. And that kinda makes me sad on that level. I think maybe that I'm being far too apprehensive about ending up doing something for the rest of my life, that does intimidate me, and I cant really seem to get over that.

Lord Khan

Stop being depressed.

I'm not sad about it my self too much, just release... hmm polite words... "worried" about the next operation and if it isn't completely successful the following ones.

Life is a pain if you think that you'll be stuck doing that same "old job" for next few years... think of all the people who have already done it that way. Those who don't generally just travel around working for a while, not something I'm up to. I just hope to get enough years to go back and finish University and then try and work my ass off to get a job I'd like and enjoy the rest of my life as much as possible, I may not get everything done that I want... but going to try my damn-est. But you are right thinking about being stuck in a 9-5 for the rest of your life can be daunting but... try and get a Job you'd like or something to do that you'd like.

I understand the whole depression side of it AngelWhore and I'm one of these people with seriously condition as the doctor calls it.

and for the record there is a lot of people out there who have different Net and Real life personallities they are more open on the net as the feel safe. Me, I am the same in real life afaib anyway . I too am one of these people who is well very apprehensive about hospitals, I'd rather avoid them here. But after a while you learn to live with the daily injections and all the entrance needles too ... ok I'll stop there before somebody pukes.

Oh yeah AngelWhore check your Sig...

"life is great..."

Karl Hungus

I don't know, really...
I've had plenty of jobs that I've enjoyed, and I never really do anything for a period of time greater than a few months. I've done plenty of different jobs, and I've really liked almost all of them. But I really can't see myself in any of them, matter how much I enjoy them.

I'm probably being more honest here than I normally would, btw. I've done an art course in college also, and honestly, I can't see myself going anywhere with that. And I really did enjoy it, very much. Maybe I just haven't found something 'Quite Right' for myself yet, and I'm over-reacting, and something'll come along and I'll be 'sorted' for good. But I can't really get over my paranoia about it all.

Now dont get me wrong, I'm not one of these people who'd say 'Oh, I might end up dead tomorrow' and just do crap odd-jobs. I had a friend who had that philosophy, and he's pretty much dead at this stage with drink and drugs. But I definetly do understand that maybe I do think far too much, and dwell on things, and I think that it's when I think about things too much I get down.

But basically what I'm saying is that I can see my problems, I just can't see the solutions. Either that, or I'm seriously over-reacting to everything.

Caesar_Bojangle

Envy is the most plausible answer to what is the meaning of life, envy makes the world go round, everyone wants to get one up on the next guy, wants what he has, puts him down for having it and would just as easily take it from him than aid him in any way,i think the proper word is invidia.

Empathy doesnt feature so much in our world as they make it out, if the world was as empathetic as its made out to be, there would be no one living on the streets, people starving, america blowing the crap out of Afghanistan to catch a few guys whilst killing thousands of supposedly terrorist babies, great ideology kill to the stop killing. Meanwhile there are people dying who want life and others blowing the shi-te out of themselves to achieve nirvana because some guy told them its the only way, then again in that scenario envy comes into play again.

Khan, was in a similar situation myself, still kinda fragile, just believe in yourself if you can, thats all i can really say along with get well which is meaningless when you hear it so many times, as its more or less impossible to 'get well' its not as if you chose to be sick and if you could, you'd be outside shooting the pigeons. The most annoying thing about being "really sick" is having people making conversation with you, who'd normally walk by you or tell you to fu-c-k off, the world appears to become even more faux and deep down they dont they dont give a turd, rather you than them, so i guess we can add selfishness and stinginess to envy as the chief factors of life.

Lord Khan

Well I never like the kinda of peeps that live their lives with the whole "well I could be dead tomorrow" approach.

I live to be happy, and to actually live now. I don't waste my cash straight off, I don't go out doing drugs saying they make me happy, I ain't no druggie. As soon as I am up and walking around again I plan to go back to College and do a course close to what I like ( I know the course I'd love to do doesn't really exist, damn computers :rolleyes: ). Then hopefully find a job to work, I don't plan to wait until my ideal job appears.

"maybe I do think far too much, and dwell on things"

That was one of my points of advice, I know that feeling I used to do it as well and well it sucked up a lot of time of my life and I missed things by over-thinking them and they simply had gone by the time I had decided, or sometime I hadn't even decided.

Some people can go on about Life is constant, but if what they are saying is true, IE we get re-born. We remember nothing of our previous lives, which means that is pointless. I want to be able to say that at any point of my life if I am told I only have 60 seconds left to live that I am happy with it right then and there honestly. I don't believe in being able to tell somebody else exactly how to live their life, but this is just advice. No matter what you do different from another if you can honestly say you are happy with your life at that moment then you have a great life. Working in a Video Store or working as the President of a large global corp. or if you are lucky live your dream... it is possible.

Caesar_Bojangle true get annoyed by people who make "small talk" I'm not big into that at any stage of my life , I'm not one of these talkative people ... hence my low post count here and nice old date.

Samba

I recieved this in an email a while back and completely forgot about, it is along the lines of what you are saying Khan.

Btw with a bit of wil power I think you can over come almost anything and from reading your words you seem to have the right attitude.

Anyway here goes.




TAKE HOLD OF EVERY MOMENT


A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package:

"This, - he said - isn't any ordinary package."
He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

"She got this the first time we went to New York, 8 or 9 years ago. She has never put it on. Was saving it for a special occasion.
Well, I guess this is it. He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothings he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died. He turned to me and said:

"Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion".
I still think those words changed my life.
Now I read more and clean less.
I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.
I spend more time with my family, and less at work.
I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through. I no longer keep anything. I use crystal glasses every day. I'll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if i feel like it.
I don't save my special perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever I want to. The words "Someday..." and "One Day..." are fading away from my dictionary. If it's worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do it now. I don't know what my friend's wife would have done if she knew she wouldn't be there the next morning, this nobody can tell. I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends.
She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels. I'd like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favourite food. It's these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come.
I would regret it, because I would no longer see the friends I would meet, letters... letters that i wanted to write "One of this days".
I would regret and feel sad, because I didn't say to my brothers and sons, not times enough at least, how much I love them.
Now, I try not to delay, postpone or keep anything that could bring laughter and joy into our lives.
And, on each morning, I say to myself that this could be a special day.
Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.
If you got this, it's because someone cares for you and because, probably, there's someone you care about.
If you're too busy to send this out to other people and you say to yourself that you will send it "One of these days", remember that "One day" is far away... or might never come...

This TANTRA came from India. No matter if you're superstitious or not, spend some time reading it.
It holds useful messages for the soul.
Don't keep this message.

Durden

right, I'm nicking that too... oh and Lord Khan, PM me your email, the docs way to big to use any of the others

McGinty

Lord Khan, can I just say here, here to everything you have said. I lived my life, if you want to call it that. I was basically on automatic, until I had my son. I nearly died from having him. It changed me completely. I was no longer willing to tolerate crap from people, I asked myself what do I really want from life and I have to say that five years on, I am living that life. It has been a big adventure, a mixture of growing (which is and can be painful) because you have to let go of old ways and that can include letting go of certain friends/partners who are not good for you. I am still learning and will until the day I die, but I live each day HOW I WANT TO not by what others want of me.

I think the reason a lot of people don't live their lives as they want to, is because of fear, they are afraid to really live. Hence the hang ups over very little details. I've become very much a cut to the bone, what is the real issue here. I recently read a book called 'Life Lessons' by Elisabeth Kubler Ross and David ? something, they both work with people who are faced with the possibility of death such as yourself, and those who are dying. They gleaned a lot of helpful insights from their patients, Elisabeth Kubler is famous for her book of 'Death and dying', our society does not deal with this issue and yet it is the cornerstone of our humanity. Yes I believe in planning ones life, such as saving, planning for a future but know also that it can dissapear in an instant. This also happened to me twice, some may say I am unlucky, I don't think so, they each had a meaning.

I found the book 'Life lessons' to be very helpful, and a lot of what you are talking about, has a similar message. I feel grateful that you shared your insights with us here. It has helped me to remember what life is really about and to keep that focus and even if today some people may not understand or want to understand where you're coming from, you'd be amazed at how in 5/10/20 years time they will remember what you said.

Durden, good luck with the book, I am in the process of finding a nice agent/publisher to take on mine. I would recommend the book 'Life lessons' to you, if your looking for material. Or there are a plethora of sites dealing with spirtuality, human issues, or if it is the death/living issue another good book is 'Denial of the soul' by Scott Peck.

Lord Khan, many thanks, good luck to you in your treatment. I know you don't know me from Adam but I have good listeniing ears if you want to make use of them.

Beruthiel

what is the meaning of life you ask
as you said it's different for everyone, for someone living in a country where you have to walk 10 miles for some water and you have no clue where your next meal is coming from, well for him it is mere existance.
For me, I am lucky, I have everything I need to take care of my existance, so I am in a position were I can contemplate my inner needs. I believe the meaning of life for me is to be happy, to treat myself and those around me who I care about with love and kindness, it pays you back ten fold. I think to feed your soul with all things that give you pleasure, be that reading, being with people or whatever your bag is. To look around yourself on a regular basis and remind yourself how lucky you are with what you have got. It is the norm for someone young to believe that they will live forever, they are young and it just doesn't hit them at that age. When you get older, you do begin to realise that one day you will not be here anymore, this was a turning point for me and it made me, as Mercie said already, to suck the marrow out of life. When I do something for myself or someone around me, my saying is "I'll be dead for a long time"

as you know, there is nothing I can say to you Lordie..
I wish you well for what ever the future holds for you, may you have all that you wish for.

Lord Khan

Nice piece though Samba

Well I'm alive now and hope to stay alive for a good while longer, I'm not worried about death as I'm not there yet or know anything about it.

McGinty, you've basically got it, I'm not telling people what to do honestly, I'm more interested in them waking up, IE getting out of that whole automatic system that I have been through that my self.

I'm not saying asking for help or asking questions in life is wrong. I'm telling people how to live, just trying to well get them out of auto-pilot really.

and don't worry about me, I don't plan to go any time soon in this life time It's a nice life and I have had the luck of meeting a number of wonderful people in it.

Samba

Last edited by Samba on 15-12-2002 at 17:40

pickarooney

Originally posted by Beruthiel
what is the meaning of life you ask
as you said it's different for everyone, for someone living in a country where you have to walk 10 miles for some water and you have no clue where your next meal is coming from, well for him it is mere existance.

I don't know that I agree with this. The food bit, certainly, but I reckon that if you have to walk ten miles to get water, then so be it, it's part of life. The women (and it's invariably women) in countries where the nearest source of fresh water is miles away, walk there as part of a daily routine. It's an important social event too, in a way, and if nothing else, a bit of exercise and a chance for a bit of an oul' gossip. When it's a fact of everyday life, you don't think too much about it, you just do it and enjoy it as best you can.
Compare this to people who drive an hour and a half to and from work every evening, more often than not on their own.

I visited Mozambique a couple of years ago, and it really opened my eyes. The country was shredded to bits by war, is covered in land-mines and prone to massive flooding on a near annual basis. All the reasons needed to make for a truly miserable populace, you would think. However, I've never met a more happy, optimistic group of people. The warmth of the smiles on the faces of people walking in the streets and sitting down doing things as simple as having a cup of tea was truly striking. Every question and request was met with a broad smile, not a plastic tourist-oriented grin, but a true facial illumination. I have never seen such beautiful people, and I mean everyone, be they old, young, fat, thin, maimed, crippled or blind. The sheer happiness of being alive was all-pervasive. No place there for our shallow, complex-riven navel-gazing. Hands up who's alive, hands up who's happy. At one stage, I went to a bar and ordered two beers. I gave the barmaid a knackered old banknote for the equivalent of 5 times the cost and waited for my change. When, after five minutes, it wasn't forthcoming, I asked politely as to its whereabouts. She simply replied that they didn't have any banknotes of the right denominations. I didn't give a toss about the money, which was only a quid or so and told her to keep the change. She said she couldn't do this, as there simply was no change for her to keep. I thought about the implications of this on a larger scale and just started grinning. Truly an eye-opener. C'est la vie, that's your lot, accept it gracefully or do something to change it. Pissing and moaning serves no real purpose, acceptance and action are the the only alternatives.

I will go back there some day, and next time in a bar where I have no small change, I'll buy a beer for everyone in sight. I know they'll appreciate it without looking for some hidden catch or feeling a need to return the 'favour', and we'll drink to life.

Kell

Khan- I think that quite accidentally you have brought the widest thinking and most self-aware posters to the thread, as well as those with vision and an appreciation and understanding of life and all of it's facets.

There's not a lot I can say to you of much relevance other than it's a great pity than anyone can be ravaged by such a disease and my thoughts go with you.

Without being sarcastic, sarky or otherwise, anyone considered what a government could achieve if it was populated with ministers that share the same views and values as are posted on this thread?

clipper

i think beruthiel and pickarooney have hit the nail on the head. whether you are lucky enough to have most of your material needs catered for or whether you have to make a two-hour trek every single day merely to get enough water to stay alive, the things that make you really happy are exactly the same-
doing all that you can in life to make it a wondrous experience for others, and appreciating all that others you share your life with can give you. if you know you've done your best with all you have been given and are thankful for it all, i think you should be happy with yourself.
khan- thanks for opening such an interesting and worthwhile discussion

Lord Khan

Well it's not supposed to be wide-ranging at all, just self aware. the range is up to each different person.

as far as governments with that kind of setup, it has the risk of not being wide ranging just on the same track the lot of them. But my political life stays outside .

on the subject of having to walk 10 miles for water... move you home closer to the water.

I am glad there is no sarcasm just some people not reading the post. it has nothing directly to the meaning of life, it's just trying to say "think about your life".