Recently, I have finally been freed from pursuing the meaning of life. Although I talked about this topic several times in the past, I will explain it today from the perspective of stress.
Why do we want meaning?
Sometimes, we want to know the reason for our behaviors. There are times when an inexplicable motivation drives us to do something.
An example is pursuing the meaning of life. I always wanted it when I was confused about values. I worked harder than my limits but was unrewarded, exhausted, and doubted why I lived.
In other words, solving that problem was one of the themes of my life.
Fortunately, I have finally succeeded in putting it into words. Describing the word ‘meaning’ in other words told me the meaninglessness of pursuing it. This awareness might help you understand yourself and free yourself from exhaustion.
The meaning of meaning
Pursuing the purpose of life is meaningless from the perspective of rationality.
Since the word ‘meaning’ is too abstract, let’s clarify what it refers to.
In my opinion, stress, excitement, positive emotions, and meaning are the same thing.
Meaning always brings us positive emotions that excite us. It includes pleasure and enjoyment but also anger, envy, and grudge. When we feel these emotions, we always have a purpose to act.
For example, when we have anger, it means we have an enemy that we should exclude. Even when we feel resentment, we want to improve our environment by retaliating against evil. Envy makes us compete with others. Pleasure enables us to accept what we wish unexpectedly. All of them excite us. They have meaning because we believe they are valuable to us.
In other words, from the physical perspective, stress brings meaning. Stress is something that we must eliminate ultimately. If we ignore it, our bodies will be drained.
That is why stress, excitement, positive emotions, and meaning are the same thing. We must deal with them.
Describing it in different words
From that perspective, let’s put it in other words. All the following words point to the same thing.
- Pursuing the meaning of life
- Pursuing the stress of life
- Pursuing the excitement of life
- Pursuing the positive emotions of life
We can understand that they are unhealthy. This is because we can enjoy other aspects of life, such as calmness and relaxation.
Seeking only one side causes an imbalance.
An example of this imbalance is the paradox of mission, which refers to the contradiction that someone who has a strong will denies others fiercely.
Such a person has intense anger and stress. He is trying to change the world. However, that also means denying the desires of others and the laws of nature. Although those without his will are also living under the laws of nature, he cannot accept them. In other words, he cannot accept another aspect of reality.
That makes him stressed. A mission should be something that makes people happy, including himself. However, he is suffering from causing stress to himself and others. It is not a mission but the elimination of different values.
That is the typical suffering of those who pursue the meaning of life.
Conclusion
That is why pursuing the purpose of life is meaningless from the perspective of rationality.
Describing the word ‘meaning’ in other words tells us why it gives us the imbalance.
This perspective might help you understand yourself and free yourself from exhaustion.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
