First of all, to answer any hard question, you must first completely and thoroughly analyze what the question means. You must properly define the question in order to answer it. By the meaning of life, I mean ‘Why do humans exist on earth?” So in this case, ‘life’ means human life. ‘Meaning’ means ‘purpose’. Life for cats and dogs most likely has a completely different meaning because they are so much different than humans. The second issue we must deal with in answering a question is to realize the extent to which we can actually answer it. Some questions just don’t have an answer. While many have tried to offer one, there is no right answer. So I won’t try to assume in the least that my answer is actually correct. It is just what I feel based on my life. The third issue we must deal with is to study the history of answers offered, consider the ideas behind them, and determine which ideas are valid.

Issue 1. Atheist. Sorry if I offend or have the ideas wrong. No research went into it. There is no God, and we are merely a highly evolved species living out our lives on earth. The meaning of Life may be to survive and produce offspring to live on after us. There is no afterlife, so why worry about doing good things for others or being a genuinely good person? Why not just do whatever you want to have fun during your short time on earth. Also, since we can do whatever we want, we can take whatever we need from the earth because it is there to support life of its creatures. Maybe we can even take what we need without regarding others because its survival of the fittest. Why do we have a government if it’s just evolution and survival of the fittest that rules the world? My critique: There has been so much religion in the world, most of which believe in at least one God of the world, so that there MUST be a God of some sort. Christianity in particular wouldn’t have had so much affect and be so widely known if it wasn’t true in some forms. Humans, as highly evolved beings, have a deep desire to know where we came from and what the meaning of our Life is. Thus, some may argue that we would easily be able to invent religion just to please these desires and give an explanation. It was probably much easier to invent something than to study Science, which came much later, and which showed evidence of evolution and a Big Bang. But as far back as any historian has studied there has been one form of religion or another. Maybe some tribes didn’t have a religion, I don’t know, but most probably did. What is strange is the variety of religions throughout the tribes of the world. Why didn’t our God teach His religion to all people at the same time? Why did Christianity really come about only a few thousand years ago? Guess we can’t question God’s Will.

Issue 2. Fate versus choice. To what extent are we able to determine our own lives? I believe in fate, that is, that God has some long-term plans for each and every one of us. He knows who we will marry and who we will befriend. To some extent, he knows which choices in life we will make. He knows how many children we will have etc. etc. But yet why would he make us in such completeness, if he already knows what we will choose and which actions we will take, why has he given us the Bible as a guide and given us commandments to follow? I think that there are some choices we can make that haven’t been predetermined. One of those is probably our faith. Maybe he tries to give us hints and miracles of life to help us believe in Him, and maybe he gives us many challenges and tests to test our faith. Maybe he wants to test our faith so that he can be sure who is loyal and strong. Maybe those that must endure many tests and still remain loyal will get rewarded in the end. I believe that there is a soul mate out there for everyone. I think that it is fate whether or not you will meet the person. Some say that you may have more than one soul mate, in case it just doesn’t work out with the first one you think is ‘the one’. But then it just seems as though you were mistaken to think the first one was right. Or if the first one has passed away, perhaps it is just a test, and you must go through this life quest on your own. Sometimes it may seem like finding your soul mate is very much up to luck and chance. But I think that God gives many small hints and signals in life to guide us in the right directions. Most of them probably are subliminal and unconsciously we follow. But many times we may miss the signs, and lose opportunities to meet our soul mates or achieve some goals. But if fate allows, we will find other opportunities. Of course, one supposedly ‘missed’ opportunity may lead to the real opportunity that was needed or wanted in the first place. For example, all throughout high school I never had a boyfriend, and I wondered if I would ever find “Mr. Right”. It turns out that in college I met him. But if I had had a boyfriend in high school, I may have led my life differently and never met my soul mate.

The Real Meaning. I think that the real meaning of life encompasses many ideas. One, of course, is to procreate. And I don’t think this means by any crude means, but by love and partnership, and raising a great family. But I don’t think that this requires a heterosexual relationship, although a homosexual relationship typically would face a bigger obstacle. But we need to include procreation in the meaning of life because of course without it, there would be no life. In case you didn’t know this, procreation takes both male and female of our species, so we need to treat both with equal respect! I don’t think God would mean for one to be dominate over the other! The same goes with race. All races have the capability to procreate and the same capacity for intelligence and emotions, so why would one be dominate over the other? Part of the meaning or quest of life is to respect all others. Another part of it is to treat those less fortunate with respect and charity. And another part of it is to find happiness doing the above things. Find happiness in whatever you do. And most of all develop and evolve your character, spirit, and emotions so you become the best person you can be. I don’t think that this life is our only chance, either. I think that you can keep coming back to earth in order to keep working on becoming the best person/spirit. I think that there is one soul mate that is common among all these times being on earth. But then that wouldn’t make sense if you both weren’t put on earth at the same time. If you each have individual quests for your character that you try to complete while on earth, you may not synchronize your visits for the same time. This would conflict with my original idea that everyone has a soul mate on earth. Anyway, I think that is the main reason for being on earth. Improving yourself and finding happiness along the way. Learning that you can (and should) have happiness, but also need to take responsibility and follow rules. Rules give us guidelines to follow so we can be disciplined, and should ensure others’ happiness. We should strive to eliminate oppression, terror, and violence without doing these things in the policing process. We should encourage respect and caring for one another without sounding goody-goody. We should realize that it doesn’t mean we are goody-goody. We can still be cool and care about others and the earth. We shouldn’t need war and the death penalty to get our points across. We need to realize that to live successful lives we are dependent on those around us. We need to focus on improving ourselves while helping others. Life is always about balance