Part 1: The Meaning of Life
The four givens of the human condition, the four sources of existential anguish, are The Meaning of Life, Loneliness, Freedom and Fear of Death. These were proposed by Irvin D. Yalom and used in existential psychotherapy (both are worth a Google and a Wikipedia visit). In this first entry in a four-part series, I will address The Meaning of Life. The goal is and will be the same every time: To share something that works for me, in the hopes it might help someone else.
When it comes to the question of meaning, I use a slider. It's also been described as 'zoom in, zoom out', or my personal favourite: 'A moment is as big as you make it' (more on this one later). Basically, the meaning of something all comes down to (your) perspective.
If you zoom out far enough, if you let enough time pass, in the biggest perspective, nothing means anything. Everyone and everything will eventually die, leaving no trace whatsoever of any decision or experience. You could (and I have in the past) see this as a depressing thought, but it can be quite useful. You may have seen a Life Pro Tip on the internet phrased something like 'Will it matter in five years?' This is one way to do it. Whenever you're stressed, frustrated, pressured or overwhelmed, you can widen the scope, step back and see the bigger picture. Will it matter in a year? Five years? In the end, nothing matters, so why am I so stressed?
On the other end of the spectrum, we have the depressing thought that if everything is ultimately meaningless, life is pointless. The answer to this is the inverse of our previous problem, you can always narrow down the scope, and see the smaller picture. If you decide to do something nice for someone, it will matter to them in the moment. You have the ability to affect and influence the world, even if it is not for very long on a cosmic scale. On a tiny enough scale, everything matters. When you feel hopeless, lost, and fail to see the point in anything, you can choose to do things anyway and trust that others will find meaning in it. If everything is pointless, your money is kind of useless, wouldn't you agree? Why not give some of it to someone else, and see if that really is true. Perspective is again the key here, and even small changes have the possibility to make a real difference to someone.
Zoom in, or zoom out. For me, it really is that simple. I won't say it 'solves' the problem (it doesn't), but it helps. Feeling stressed? Calm down, in the end everyone dies and nothing matters. Feeling pointless? Just start doing stuff for others, and watch it make a difference. Give it a try sometime! Best of luck and I'll be back soon with part two, Loneliness.
When it comes to the question of meaning, I use a slider. It's also been described as 'zoom in, zoom out', or my personal favourite: 'A moment is as big as you make it' (more on this one later). Basically, the meaning of something all comes down to (your) perspective.
If you zoom out far enough, if you let enough time pass, in the biggest perspective, nothing means anything. Everyone and everything will eventually die, leaving no trace whatsoever of any decision or experience. You could (and I have in the past) see this as a depressing thought, but it can be quite useful. You may have seen a Life Pro Tip on the internet phrased something like 'Will it matter in five years?' This is one way to do it. Whenever you're stressed, frustrated, pressured or overwhelmed, you can widen the scope, step back and see the bigger picture. Will it matter in a year? Five years? In the end, nothing matters, so why am I so stressed?
On the other end of the spectrum, we have the depressing thought that if everything is ultimately meaningless, life is pointless. The answer to this is the inverse of our previous problem, you can always narrow down the scope, and see the smaller picture. If you decide to do something nice for someone, it will matter to them in the moment. You have the ability to affect and influence the world, even if it is not for very long on a cosmic scale. On a tiny enough scale, everything matters. When you feel hopeless, lost, and fail to see the point in anything, you can choose to do things anyway and trust that others will find meaning in it. If everything is pointless, your money is kind of useless, wouldn't you agree? Why not give some of it to someone else, and see if that really is true. Perspective is again the key here, and even small changes have the possibility to make a real difference to someone.
Zoom in, or zoom out. For me, it really is that simple. I won't say it 'solves' the problem (it doesn't), but it helps. Feeling stressed? Calm down, in the end everyone dies and nothing matters. Feeling pointless? Just start doing stuff for others, and watch it make a difference. Give it a try sometime! Best of luck and I'll be back soon with part two, Loneliness.
41-45
