Well, it took 2,600 blog posts to say this:
One day we all are going to die. It’s not if but when.
Most of us do a lot of work and stay really busy to ignore this fact.
Albert Camus has written extensively about the topic and why the answer isn’t to roll over but to revolt.
Another problem is so much of what we do is building towards a better tomorrow when all that is guaranteed is now. (This is also why it is so hard for humans to act in ways outside their own self-interest.)
Some people want to skip the process of creating meaning in their lives because of how much work is associated with it. To just be happy all the time. I think this is a mistake.
When we are optimistic in our approach, we are more likely to find something worth grabbing onto. When there is a pathway for hope, we can’t help but feel better. We also get to choose what and where to find meaning.
I often go back to this quote from Frederick Douglass when he was teaching slaves to read. “I taught them because it was the delight of my soul to be doing something that looked like the bettering the condition of my race.”
That’s the moment right there. When we find something so pure, so compelling, something to lose ourselves in—we discover meaning and just feel better.
This is it. This is what we got and one shot at it. And yeah, it is a struggle. As Camus has pointed out, even Sisyphus can find meaning when pushing a rock up a hill just to see it go down once he reaches the top. You just have to imagine him smiling on the way down.
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