The Story: Life has the meaning that you put into it
When you’re a child, life can seem simple. Perhaps the adults around you even give you a simple framework with which to view the world – something like, God loves you, Jesus died for your sins, and as long as you love God and do good, it will be alright. You accept this as a valid interpretation of events – and perhaps you even believe it is the only valid interpretation. Many people live their lives in this way. Perhaps occasionally they have a niggling doubt, but in some way they make it work and feel happy.
Others won’t be so satisfied with a belief system like that. When they start to see the holes, it’s the beginning of the end. Sooner or later, it’s going to click with them that the interpretation of the world that was given to you, was a lie. You plunge into existential despair, not really knowing what to believe. You become a nihilist. “Everything is meaningless,” you say. But then you go a little too far. “Therefore, life is pointless.” You might even believe that you’re special for having discovered this secret, and for the deep-seated dread that you feel in reaction to it. And in a way, you’d be right.
Remember, there is no pressure. No one will force you to evolve. You can stay at any one of these levels as long as you wish.
But, in your own time, you do evolve. You’re not content with the empty cup of meaninglessness. You decide to set your own rules, play your own game. You decide who you are and what you accept from yourself. Some people might call that “self-actualisation”. You know that life is meaningless, you embrace it as true, and you see it as a blank canvas on which to create your own masterpiece, designing a form of living which delights your soul. Because, why not?
Join me in a reality-confronting episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
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