On the Meaning of Life

What is the meaning of life?

This is a question directed at you. In another way, this may be asked:
HOW DO YOU GIVE MEANING TO YOUR LIFE?

You learned in your English class that to define something, you have to consider the following:

1. Physical characteristics – color, texture, smell, sound, taste
2. Purposes or functions
3. Examples
4. Strengths and advantages
5. Weaknesses and disadvantages
6. Opportunities
7. Threats
8. Limitations

These are the framework and fundamentals of your life. Some of these are just accidents which may be natural or self-inflicted.

You fill in the blanks in your life to get to your destiny and to understand fully its meaning.

The journey, according to Paulo Coelho in his book The Alchemist, allows you the wisdom of experience that makes your discovery of your treasure at your backyard more meaningful and life-defining.

You have to allow yourself some failures. Perfection happens after the rain and the storm – when there is calm and the beauty of the rainbow soothes your strained spirit and seemingly irreparable soul.

The journey also makes way to self-discovery – how you measure up to the challenges of the moment and how you sum up the addends of the previous fights. You fight a good fight you don’t lose. You are the victor of every fight when you can, with dignity, make either defeat or victory define you.

Remember that when you lose, another warrior becomes the victor. It then becomes your destiny whether his victory is one for the books or one to be mocked about.

You win for the victor the applause he deserves. The victor wins for the loss you can be proud of. This we know because warriors attract their match.


(Insights taken from the interview with Paulo Coelho at Glasgow in September 2007.)