To Create A Meaningful Life, Question Everything

Editors note: This is a guest post from Mike Dale of Lifestyle Revised.

I Study Philosophy.

Let me explain. Age wise, I’m not exactly a spring chicken, but I decided to quit my past life and go to the university to study philosophy. When I tell people this, I usually get a quizzical look, accompanied by the inevitable question, “What job are you going to get with that?”. Between you and me, little do they know that’s not part of the plan. 

“None,” I reply, which often earns me a scoff, and a comment similar to “Good plan,” with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

If they still seem curious, I might explain further. You see, I spent many years trying to live within the conventions of society. It starts early, you see. Our parents and High School counselors spend a lot of time telling us that we need to go to school, select a college major, and get training in order to obtain employment in a given industry. Yep, “learn a trade and get a job” they tell us. 

I tried that, believe me. I spent years in one industry or another, and was pretty much miserable the whole time. I had anxiety, I was told. I had depression, I was told. I was recommended medications and told to get counseling.

Over the years nothing seemed to help, and moving on to the “greener grass” of a new job didn’t help for long. I knew something was way off, and for years I tried to figure out what. Eventually I got so stressed and sick I could barely function any longer. It was then I decided, in my mid 30’s, to just start over and go to college, where I took my first philosophy class.

 “Wow!” was my reaction. Here was something that did not teach a practical job skill, or mass quantities of fact memorization, rather it taught the art of questioning, namely questioning our own assumptions and ideas about the world.

The Meaning of life

Another reaction I get when I tell people my major often is a chuckle and a question like “What is the meaning of life, then?” I reply, “There isn’t one, at least in the sense that people want there to be one.” “What do you mean?” they ask. Now I have their curiosity up and they want to know more, and now they are doing philosophy, without knowing it of course. Sneaky huh? 

When considering this question, most people are referring to some cosmic or divine instruction manual, which would apply to all of humanity, and it we can just discover that manual we’d have all the answers to the meaning of existing.

I don’t think it goes that way at all. We’re tempted to ignore individuality. We seek religion that explains things that apply to all of us. We make laws and rules that apply to everyone. Society creates conventions, ways of doing things, which again, apply to everyone. Society places us, or we place ourselves into boxes, predefined roles that we play in the world.

Conventions of Society

This is where philosophy comes into play. We’ve already established that philosophy is the art of questioning. We also mentioned that an important role is questioning our own assumptions about the world. Our parents, religious leaders, teachers, political leaders, and other members of our community that we are in contact with all tell us the way life should be lived. We accept what they tell us uncritically and unquestioning. I submit that for many of us, this blind acceptance of these beliefs is dangerous. Some of them are simply false, some are designed to control you, while others just plain won’t fit who you are.

Remember the “get a job” example? As I pointed out, the typical ladder story of western society, the one where we go to school, train for a job, get a job and climb the corporate ladder, just didn’t work for me at all. This was taught to me by so many authority figures in my life that it seemed that it was just the way things are, and if I didn’t succeed in this role something was wrong with me. As torturous as it was, it didn’t occur to me that I could not only question it, but not participate in it. Sure certain conventions are good and we agree that hurting others, stealing others property, or robbing another of their freedom is not conducive to a good society. But questioning these other things, the things that tell us what we’re supposed to do and how we’re supposed to live certainly won’t harm anyone else, so it seems on reflection, that it’s okay.

I’ve learned to question everything in my life; religious beliefs, political beliefs, as well as concepts on what I’m supposed to “do”. When we question our own beliefs, they either stand up to scrutiny and we can be that much more sure of ourselves, or we realize that a belief may not be as strong or concrete as we has thought, leading us to the option of changing or modifying our former belief. Who says I have to train for some class or category of work? Who says I have to work for someone else? Who says I have to live in one place, buy a house, and commute to an office every day?

Asking these questions was scary at first. I felt very out of place! But then I began to find other people who are actually doing things differently, the way I had discovered in my mind. These folks discovered that, although we’re conditioned to do things in certain ways, it’s possible, and in cases like mine, beneficial to do things differently. We’re all benefited by finding ways to align our personal and work life with our personal values, and finding our natural strengths.

Back to the Meaning of Life

So what is the meaning of life? I’m not sure if there is a way to know, but I believe that we each have our own meaning of life and that there is no one meaning that conveniently covers each of us. Perhaps there is no ultimate meaning for anyone. What I can say is that you should dare to question any and all assumptions you have about your life. Question what you’ve been taught by others as it pertains to how you live, what you do, and how you do it.

Once you really begin to question these things, you’ll find that either a) you’re on the right path, or b) you have the opportunity to redefine what you’re about and move in a direction that is more in line with you and your purpose, instead of what’s in line with what you’ve been told and someone else’s purpose. After all, the meaning of life should be a very individual thing, because we are all different. Only by looking closely at our own place in the world can we begin to discover our meaning.

If you don’t fit into “what is”, question the rules and your assumptions. It just may open a whole new world of possibilities for you and empower you to shape and create your life in a whole new way, more in line with your inner (perhaps presently hidden) strengths and love.

Michael Dale is a freelance writer, specializing in writing copy for websites and online marketing. Michael writes about adapting to the new economy at Lifestyle Revised. You can check him out on Twitter.