Life

What is the meaning of life? Philosophers and theologians have debated this question for centuries and even millennia. 

Now I'm not going to say that I know the meaning of life. But I think I have come to a conclusion that will make sense to many people and therefore won't be very surprising. It will be somewhat easy to dispute my argument even at this point (even after 4.5 sentences), but here I am writing: bear with me. I know a few of the justifications and arguments you are going to put forth here, and I am all-ears. Here is what I think, and you are welcome to disagree:   

In October, I posted a total of eight times on familiar topics: love, suffering (pt.1 & 2), caring, good and evil, judgment, parenting, and men and women.

What is the common theme between all of these topics? 

STRUGGLE. 

This chart took me a LOOOOOONG time, so think and reflect on it carefully:

Issue	Binary/Dichotomy (the two sides) The Struggle Between:
Judgment	S Solipsism	O Empathy
Love	S Husband Friend Parents	O Wife Friend Children
Good & Evil	S One’s morality Doing the right thing	O Others’ views on morality Doing the wrong thing
Caring	S One’s own immediate needs	O Needs of important, everyday strangers
Men & Women	S One’s own sex	O the Other Sex
Parenting	S Parents Loving	O Children Disciplining
Suffering	S	O

                       Abbreviations: Self as S and Others as O


In all of these issues it is apparent: life is a struggle. Life is a struggle for existence. Even the act of breathing involves your diaphragm to struggle (to go up and down). Why do we need food? Ultimately digesting food is a struggle to strip electrons from the carbohydrates, fat, or protein. Why do we play sports? To struggle against the other team or side. Why do we torture ourselves by spending hours on the trendmill or at the gym? A struggle to lose/gain weight.  Why do we read philosophy? To struggle with difficult questions. Why do we need to believe/disbelieve in God/J.C./YHWH/Allah/Nirvana/Brahman/Waheguru? To struggle to answer those difficult questions. 

Other possible questions: Why do we go to school? Why do we bear children? Why do we marry? Why do we go to the bathroom?  (Hint: all of the answers involve struggle) 

Why do we read, just in general? Yes, for fun, but all reading is a struggle between the author's intent and audience interpretation (reader response theory). 

Why do we love? To be in the midst of that struggle. You see, there is no "WHY" to love. There is only love. There is only God. God is love, and love is God.