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This week I will be writing about the meaning of life.

                Whenever I need meaningful entertainment, I Google: “What is the meaning of life?” I usually start on the third or fourth search page where the choices are less conventional. My visit to most sites are brief as I can see that the answer requires the purchases of a book or DVD to obtain full enlightenment. Here is my quick summation of the answers to “what is the meaning of life?”:

(1) Be prepared to accept the answer.

(2)Work hard. After enlightenment, word hard.

(3) $19.95

(4) Don’t confuse happiness with the meaning of life. (This leads to a bigger question: would you rather be happy, or hold true to the meaning of life?” See #B for clarification.)

On a very serious note, the intentional bombing of young girls in Afghanistan this past week raises the question, how can there be a meaning to life when a belief system supports killing more than 60 girls because they wanted to be educated? Views on life are shaped by religion, culture, education and experiences. We are not all the same. So, the first big step in defining the meaning of life is to define the belief system that shapes your views.

I am not qualified or motivated to speak to your belief system–I will just stick with my own while acknowledging I may be manipulated by my thoughts, regardless of how pure I think they might be. However, I take full responsibility for what I write.

The end of Part I is my own admission that I am lucky to be alive and through personal experiences I now understand fully how short life can be. Yes, fifty years ago I lived as if I were invincible, but that is no longer the case. I have uncovered some wisdom in accepting that time is running out.

Here is my “meaning of life” poem:

Meaning of Life

Life is figured out

When death nears

And it’s okay

Not to tell anyone.

   —

Explanation: Death is always near and it is okay to fear it. But once you accept your frail existence and replace that fear by thinking of others and not yourself, you can find peace within yourself.