How to find meaning in life

Contributed by: Ms. Lisa G. Austria, Principal-I, Bagong Silang Elementary School, Balanga City

How do you find meaning in life? Do you associate it with riches? With power? With fame? Do you relate it to a colorful rainbow in the sky? Have you ever regarded it as magical as the beginning of a day? Or do you cherish it as a precious stone?

As an old cliché goes, “life is not a bed of roses”. You have to experience the pain of being hurt with the thorns before you will be glorified with the velvety softness of the petals. When you face a challenge and emerge victorious, life can be invigorating.

Some people think that they have found the meaning of life when they have accumulated a sizeable amount of fortune, when they are sure that they will never get hungry, when they can afford all the necessities and the luxuries in life, when they can live in comfort, in contentment.

Others rejoice in the meaning of life every time they see a newborn baby, when they gaze upon the innocent face of a child. They are in awe as to how life can be as amazing as giving life to a tiny creature.

On the other hand, some people find life worthless, for life has not given them anything satisfactory. Worse, they blame fate for it! Why is this so? Is fate hard on them or just maybe they have more expectations in life than they dare to accomplish themselves. Or maybe, just maybe, they are aiming to become what they are incapacitated to be.

Still, there are those who find life agonizing. They are those who fight for every centavo they spend, those who need to work their way through every meal, those who have dreaded diseases to combat. To them, life is an ordeal.

To others, life is nothing but a drag, especially when they have nothing in life. No fortune, no fame, no worldly acquisitions to be proud of

But how can I find meaning in life? How can you find meaning in life? How am I to describe what life is?

Honestly, I really don’t know exactly, but I can suggest.

How about taking it slow, one step at a time? Try to look around and feel everything alive around you. Have you drowned yourself with the fragrance of flowers? Have you figured out the harmony of chirping birds? Have you felt the wind blowing into your neck, felt the warmth of the earth? Have you tried robbing yourself off with earthly acquisitions?

Why not just be thankful that you are here, that we are here, that we are blessed enough to experience another day with our loved ones, that we are lucky enough to wake up in the bastion of a new day?

When you are through with this soul searching, it is only then that you will realize, that you have found the real meaning in life, and that is, the very essence of living.