I believe that all forms of lifehave a purpose, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the particular purposethat the lifeform has been given will benefit its own life. For a cow or aninsect, the purpose of their life might be to act as the source of food forother animals or to be killed so people can survive or save their own speciesby reproduction.
Their purpose can even be saved by a human to fulfill theperson’s purpose in life. To me, there’s a fine line between the purposes ofthe lives of human beings and non-cognitive organisms like plants and animals. The lives of a cow, an insect and ahuman all have one thing in common, they all have a purpose. They were all puton planet earth by some unseen, unheard, intangible, and/or immeasurable forcefor some reason or reasons. Everyone has a different idea or belief on whathappens after someone or something dies, and it always has something to do withthe deceased’s meaning in life. Personally, whenever this conversation comesup, I’ve always tried to find the “important” meaning or purpose in the life ofsomething that appears meaningless. It’s curious to me: heaven is meant asutopia for the good and honorable, or something can be reincarnated based ontheir how their karma turns out, or something will find eternal happiness afterdeath because of the amount of joy it found in its life and the amount of joyit brought to others.
This is why is ask myself and others what a cow or aninsect would have to do to get into heaven or be reincarnated or find eternalhappiness. Would the cow have to make the absoluteperfect moo sound or be slaughtered into the most juicy, flawless, thickest,and delicious steak or burger ever tasted by a human? Or, maybe it would justhave to produce enough dairy products to feed a hungry family. If the insect wasa cockroach, would it have to survive a nuclear apocalypse, or if it was abumblebee, would it have to spend its whole life avoiding to temptation of stinginga human, or if it was a caterpillar, would it just have to eat enough leaves toeventually turn into a beautiful butterfly? Or, maybe it would just have to geteaten by a domesticated parrot, so that the bird could live another day keepingits lonely owner company. I will admit these are all good sacrificial purposesin the lives of these animals, but there is one thing that distinguishes thelife meanings of these animals from us humans. We humans are aware that there mightbe a higher or deeper meaning to the lives we live or that there might be somethingwaiting for us after we die, while a majority of animals don’t. Its humans whospend their whole lives questioning their general existence and being, and,once they find their answer, they work toward trying to fulfill this purposefor their own value or the common good.
While animals typically just act out ofhunger, instinct, or the need to protect themselves. This is exactly what the animalsare missing in the purpose their lives. Although the animals may never understandthe purpose of their life, but I am more than certain of the purpose of mylife.
In my experiences, I have realized that the meanings of my life and lifeitself include: Find yourself, and when you do, be true to yourself. Be kindand useful to yourself and to others in any possible way so that they may dothe same to others. Learn as much practical and academic information as you canto survive and help others both learn it and to pass it on.
Spend your lifefinding joy for yourself and sharing it with others in hopes that they willfind the same joy in their lives as well. Hope that everything that happens inlife, happens for the best and if you have doubts about this, believe that lifemight just surprise you when you least expect it. Have a family to pass on yourknowledge, joy and hope to the future generations. Live your life to whateveryou consider to be the absolute fullest for as long as you can so you feelcomplete when you are finally ready to die.
If there is nothing awaiting youafter death, you will still end up serving a purpose by being buried into theground and becoming fertilizer for grass and trees, which provide the food,shelter and life sources for plants and animals, like the cow and the insect. However, above all of these differentmeanings, there is actually only one true meaning of life. If you ever findyourself doubting all the previous reasons for the point of life, or believethat life is simply meaningless because everyone dies eventually, remember onething: life’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey, and makingfriends along the way to find happiness for yourself and your friends as you goon the journey. The search for meaning is the very thing that gives our lifemeaning. The only question that is truly worth asking is, “how do you enjoylife?” So really, the only true meaning of my life, your life, anyone’s life, andlife itself is finding your own way to enjoy it. Youmay have heard of this type of answer before, but I can assure you that I don’tbelieve it to be just some inane and/or prudish cliché. I can’t speak for anyone else, butI firmly believe that these are the reasons as to why we humans live life inthe first place and what the purpose of humanity is altogether.