I am agnostic about the supernatural. I do not believe in a universal meaning in life based on a supernatural being, supernatural design, or supernatural plan. I instead believe that people create meaning in their own lives. This essay describes how I create meaning in my own life.
One way that I create a meaning is by fulfilling six existential needs.
- I need to have a system of ethics and a commitment to live according to those ethics.
- How should I conduct my life?
- Why do people show so much anger, hatred, and aggression?
- How should I respond to people who harm others?
- How should I respond to people who harm me?
- I need to change and grow as a person in order to achieve personal potentials.
- What do I value in life?
- What kind of presence do I want to be?
- How do I become the presence I want to be?
- I need to feel connected to other people, to nature, and to things greater than myself (e.g., social movements or social causes).
- How should I interact and relate to others?
- How should I respond to people who are different from me?
- Where do I belong in the world?
- How do I contribute to worthwhile movements or causes?
- I need for strength, courage and hope in the face of adversity.
- Why are pain and suffering unavoidable in this life?
- Why is there so much pain and suffering?
- How do I cope with pain and suffering?
- How do I cope with a world that continually changes?
- How do I cope with the loss of loved ones?
- I need to have a sense that my life has purpose and is worthwhile.
- Why is my life important or valuable?
- What makes my life worth living?
- I need to cope with the inevitability of death.
- What happens to me after I die?
- Will some part of me exist forever?
- What if nothing but oblivion awaits me after death?
I do not need absolute, universal, or eternal answers to the questions above. It is only necessary for me to have “good enough” answers or to be actively searching for answers.
Practicing ethics and spirituality contributes to my sense of meaning in life.
One way that practicing ethics and spirituality gives me a sense of meaning is by living according to my values.
Clarifying and connecting with your values is an essential step for making life meaningful. Your values are reflections of what is most important in your heart: what sort of person you want to be, what is significant and meaningful to you, and what you want to stand for in this life. Your values provide direction for your life and motivate you to make important changes. …A rich and meaningful life is created through taking action. But not just any action. It happens through effective action, guided by and motivated by your values. And in particular, it happens through committed action: action that you take again and again, no matter how many times you fail or go off track.
My core value is the reduction of suffering and the promotion of well-being. My secondary values are the personal qualities that I cultivate to improve my ability to reduce suffering and promote well-being. These values reflect who I want to be. They reflect what I want my life to be about. Living according to my values gives me a sense of living an authentic life—a life of personal integrity.
A second way that practicing ethics and spirituality gives me a sense of meaning is by doing my part to make the world a less miserable and more satisfying place to live.
The belief that it is good to give, to be useful to others, to make the world better for others, is a powerful source of meaning.
While I am committed to helping reduce suffering and promote well-being for everyone, I am not naive. I do not believe that my actions can bring about a perfect world free of suffering and filled only with happiness. There will always be pains, diseases, accidents, natural disasters, disappointments, losses, and deaths. However, I do not worry about imaginary standards of perfection. I do what I can to reduce suffering and promote well-being here and now. This is enough.
- Russ Harris (2008). The Happiness Trap. Boston, MA: Trumpet Books. Quote taken from page 34.
- Irvin Yalom (1980). Existential Psychotherapy. Basic Books. Quote taken from page 434.