My Personal Philosophy
Life is to short to be unhappy; it is to shot to be squandered. Whether you are an average healthy person, or a survivor of an organ transplant, you should live your life like every day could be your last. The most important part of enjoying your gift of life is living it to the fullest, squandering your life with jobs, bad relationships or other things you hate leads to resentment and hatred in your life. This creates discomfort and will lead to the feelings that life is meaningless.
I have several examples of why life is a gift from God. My little brother Billy was born prematurely; weighing just about 1 pound. He beat Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) three times. To the doctors he was a miracle, and to my mom he was too. Billy does not squander his life he lives it the best way he knows how. Even though he gets in trouble a lot, he still lives his life to the fullest. Although he is thirteen years old his mind is still in the process of growing, and he is a lot like a nine to ten year old, constantly absorbing information. Billy seeks to learn from everything he does. If Billy doesn't enjoy it he doesn't do it. I truly believe that my brother lives his life fully. Billy may be very young, but he has learned a very important lesson. The lesson comes naturally for him. That lesson is doing what you love and living your life to the fullest. Billy may not know it, but he is living his life in the fullest way he possibly can, and that means he is fully using the gift of life.
Life is a Gift. If you say life has no meaning then you are not living it the way you want. Something in your life is causing you too think that way. Find out what it is. Fixing it may not be easy, but you must do it if you want to live your life fully.
The reason I say life is not meaningless is because living provides us with a great many number of experiences; it's a story, a history of a single being. Life's meaning is for the individual to figure out, not for some scientist or theologian to tell you. How can people, from whom science has already determined are different, people who have different thoughts, believe different things, experience different events, have a common meaning for life? Life's meaning is determined by the individual, and everyone's life has a meaning.
This does not mean I believe everyone can do anything they want. Sometimes the greater good comes into play. Society has set boundaries on what is good to do, and what is bad. You can push the boundaries of society, but breaking them only leads to others unhappiness. In 1920 women certainly pushed the boundaries of society when they pursued the right to vote. In the United States women had been fighting for this right since the mid 1800s. Women peacefully pursued, and persuaded the United States government to give them the right to vote. In this example women broke through the boundaries of society. They sought a new right and it ultimately lead to a more equal and peaceful society. This change in the views of society was a good thing.
Doing what makes you happy should be kept in check by a societies laws otherwise there will be chaos. The Westboro Baptist Church is an example of how going past society's boundaries is harmful. This so called church has claimed every terrorist attack that has happened in America is a punishment from God. This supposed church says that the reason for this punishment is because there are gay people in America. For the Westboro Baptist Church making the world a better place is to eliminate the possibility of being gay, this breaks the boundaries of society because the world has said discrimination of any kind is wrong, the things the Westboro Baptist church makes a small percentage of people happy, while the bigger percentage is being harassed by the Westboro Baptist church.
To compare the women's rights movement to the Westboro Baptist Church, the women's rights movements were peaceful re-education of the society to bring about a greater good. While the Westboro Baptist Church is radically protesting, not peacefully re-educating society, they would rather force their ideas on society, and forcing beliefs on society is the bad side of doing what you love. In order to do the things that make you happy they have to fit into societies beliefs, of what is right and what is wrong. Happiness in life is a choice and like any choice it can be good and bad, the good is praised in society, and the bad is punished by society.
Life is to short to squander with bad relationships, jobs you hate, and crimes you shouldn't commit. In your life you should seek what makes you happy and strive to do it. If you seek to do what makes you happy your life will feel complete. Strive to live every day like it is your last and you will achieve a state of tranquility in life. "Don't you ever get the feeling that all your life is going by and you're not taking advantage of it? Do you realize you've lived nearly half the time you have to live already?" ― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises. This Quote from Ernest Hemingway is the summary of my philosophy. You take every second of your life, every moment and live it fully. Don't waste a second doing something you hate. Remember that you define the meaning of your life. The most important part of enjoying your gift of life is living it to the fullest.
