What is a sense of life? The answer is here! Why does a person live?

Humanity has been talking about the meaning of life since the earliest times of its existence.

Humans are social creatures with a natural instinct for survival. At a basic level, this survival requires eating, drinking, resting, and procreating. It is precisely because of this that the meaning of life at the earliest stage of human existence could lie in the continuation of the process of evolution. But the more conscious people became, the more profound the understanding of their true purpose became for them.

Thanks to intelligence, curiosity, the ability to analyze and reflect, many minds began to increasingly ask the question “What am I living for?”, trying with its help not only to realize themselves, but even to survive in difficult periods.

How to find yourself?

You need to constantly try yourself in various processes and identify among them those that will lead to the achievement of the desired states. Naturally, without any doping. Such processes usually become directly related to human activities. I will try to demonstrate this using the example of people in creative professions.

Imagine that you like to draw or take photographs. Both are a set of actions combined into a single process, thanks to which you can materialize your feelings, and thereby express yourself. As a result of these actions, your works {creations} appear, which you demonstrate to the people around you. They admire what you do.

As a result, you feel an emotional and energetic uplift. You want to do this all the time, because you like both the process of self-expression and the response you receive from people as a result of the actions taken.

Social function of the individual

People depend on each other to satisfy their individual needs. Against this background, communication and interaction between people is established.

A social function is an assignment to a specific person from society. It depends on the characteristics of the distribution of labor: the teacher is responsible for teaching, the physician is responsible for treatment, the entrepreneur is responsible for organizing production.

Sociologists judge the functions of a particular individual not by what he does or intends to do, but by what consequences for society flow from these actions.

If an individual refuses to perform his functions or the results of his activities have a negative meaning, we are talking about dysfunction.

By fulfilling his functions, a person becomes necessary for others. Against the background of the social division of labor, social statuses and roles are formed. “Cells” appear, each of which is responsible for performing an important social function.

Goal setting

“How to find the meaning of life if you don’t want anything?” - you ask. The answer, apparently, will not please you: set a goal and go towards it with the will.

What is the root of your passivity? Have you recently suffered a trauma or lost someone? Are you in a state of crisis, depression, that is, an unstable and unhealthy psychological state? Then you first need to “remove the splinter”: survive divorce, death, leaving, recover from trauma, get out of depression. To do this, you need to contact a specialist.
Once your condition is stable (or if you are currently healthy, just lazy or uncertain), you need to start working. A rolling stone gathers no moss. Already in the question “how to find...” lies the answer - to search, and not to remain inactive. Go to the goal, through all external and, above all, internal obstacles (your “I don’t want”).
“I don’t want” happens because of a lack of motivation. Why do you lack motivation? Are you satisfied with your current life? I think not, since the question arose. Then imagine the life you want, but be realistic in your plans. Have you imagined yourself, your life, the people around you, your feelings? Do you want that? That's the goal. Your life's purpose is the image of your achievements.

If you cannot yet concentrate your attention on life as a whole, then think about a specific goal that worries you more than others at the moment: work, love, education, health.

Read also: How to improve running endurance

Now think about how to achieve the presented image, and what is needed for this. What do you already have? How to get something that doesn't exist? Work on your worldview. As a result, you should have a clear idea of what the universe is, who a person is and how he should live.

A little practice

I want to push you to action and take you away from devaluing life. I suggest two exercises. You can repeat it regularly, especially when you “don’t feel like doing anything.”

Imagine that you have 5 years left to live. Have you already come up with some images, values, ideas? I think yes. Probably, all the “later”, “I’ll have time”, “not now” immediately came to mind. And you probably wanted to do it right away? That's what we need to build on. Here are the first meanings for you. Constantly support them, call the genie out of the bottle and act.
Imagine that you are 80. Your friends and family have a party to celebrate this occasion. The hero of the day is invited to give a speech. You are asked to talk about your life. This is where the “magic” begins. What would you like to say to those eyes? How would you like to appear to your guests? Here are your first guidelines for the future, your first goals and meanings.

Maximum happiness

Today, dear reader, we live in a world of enormous opportunities . Never before in the history of mankind have there been such opportunities available to every person. I encourage you to achieve maximum happiness.

Maximum happiness is the combination of spiritual wealth and material wealth. After all, a person is like bird : in order for a bird to fly, it needs 2 wings. A bird with one wing will never fly. So is a person: for maximum happiness, he must be rich materially and spiritually.

A poor person does not have the opportunity to help his loved ones and take care of the people around him. Of course, there are weaklings who refuse material wealth and withdraw into themselves, thereby showing the highest selfishness and the highest stupidity under the pretext of delving into their inner world. They completely ignore the external world and try to explain to us that this is the wisdom of life.

I am for a person to be rich both materially and spiritually. For me personally, the “either/or” path does not work. A person experiences true happiness when he is financially free and at the same time constantly engaged in spiritual development .

As the Chinese say: “It’s hard to enjoy the stars with a sharp stone in your shoe.” And it’s also difficult to meditate on an empty stomach, especially in February, when there are severe frosts in Russia. And it is certainly impossible to meditate when your family and friends are starving.

Being poor financially but rich spiritually is not so bad . But the rich materially and the poor spiritually - this is a TROUBLE! Unfortunately, today a huge number of people in our country, having forgotten about kindness, dignity, honor, rushed like crazy to material wealth and did not notice how they became slaves of money.

Money tells them who to be friends with, who to love, who to go to for their birthday. Money completely controls their life. Having a lot of money is good. But money should serve a person, and not vice versa.

The stomach is a good servant, but a very bad master. As soon as a person becomes a slave to money, he misses the most important thing - life.

Material wealth is one wing. But true happiness is impossible without love, kindness, gratitude, respect, friendship. A bird with one wing will never know the exhilarating beauty of flight. Likewise, a person, chasing only material wealth, does not know happiness.

Rich people who are obsessed only with money are very unhappy people. Their soul suffers and hurts. And if the soul is sick, then the body cannot avoid suffering and illness. The life of people who sacrificed their souls for material wealth turns into hell.

The rich try to compensate for the lack of spiritual happiness by maximizing the consumption of material goods and end up in a dead end: after all, you can’t eat 100 times a day, you can’t have sex 100 times a day, you can’t drive 100 cars and you can’t wear 100 suits. They have a lot of money, but happiness cannot be bought .

Obviously, every person must be financially free. But in no case should one sacrifice spiritual and moral values for the sake of career and money. After all, our soul is an unlimited source of happiness, joy, love, light.

The structure and essence of the meaning of life

Despite all the ambiguity of the issue, scientists have been able to identify some stable provisions about the meaning of life, for example, regarding its structure. It is noted that, as a rule, there are several meanings in life: the leader and the subordinates. Based on this principle, the following models of meaning formation are distinguished:

All meanings peacefully coexist or oppose each other.
Subordination of all meanings to one leader.
Change in additional meanings under the influence and growth of the leader.
Inconsistency between the leading and additional principles (that is, the division of the inner world in two).
The leading meaning serves only as a cover for the ever-evolving true meanings.
The breakdown of the main meaning into secondary ones.
There is one leading meaning, but it is interconnected with others and can change.

Thus, the meaning of life is life goals, the means of achieving them (abilities) and the result (information obtained during professional activities, communication and knowledge of the world).

The first conversation about the meaning of life, as a rule, comes in adolescence. Young children can also pronounce this concept, but probably blindly repeating after adults. According to developmental psychology, at this age a child cannot consciously be puzzled by this question.

By any means

We always subconsciously strive to find ways to satisfy unmet needs. Either in the form of personal achievements in your profession, in business, in creativity. Or through fictitious illnesses, suffering, complaints, so that you receive attention from the outside. To always be comforted and pitied. When choosing your path, remember that frequently repeated actions are transformed into a dynamic stereotype in the terminology of Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, or in simple words into a habit. Start taking actions that will be more beneficial for you in the future.

What are the disadvantages of not knowing our purpose?

Lots of fussiness . Because we don't know what goal we are rushing towards. We know what we want, but we don’t know where we are running. There is no common goal, so every time you achieve abstract goals, dissatisfaction comes. For example, we bought a TV and enjoyed it a little. What's next? Next I want to change the refrigerator, then the car. And at a certain moment, when the goal is achieved, we got what we wanted, suddenly a moment of dissatisfaction arises: well, yes, this is there, so what?
Often in difficult moments of life there is a feeling of emptiness, apathy and even depression . These phenomena indicate that, most likely, a person does not know his meaning in life, does not understand his purpose.
Personal crises that appear at the age of 30-55.
Living someone else's life . The human personality and his nature are very easy to control, because if he does not have a big global goal, then most likely this person lives by petty passions or desires. And all manipulations in society are based on catching some kind of passion and playing on it. Such people often work for someone else, live for someone else, do not do what they need - live someone else’s life.

Fear of death

Many people lose all taste for life, realizing that sooner or later any living creature dies. But just imagine how great the chance was that you would not be born. An unimaginable number of factors influenced your birth: the meeting of your ancestors with each other, wars, famine, serious illnesses. And this is not counting the number of sperm that compete with each other at the fertilization stage.

Scientists have calculated that the chance of each of us appearing is 1 in 400,000,000,000,000,000. The figure is simply incredible! And that is why it is important to understand your peculiarity and capabilities while spending the allotted time on the planet.

The meaning of life: how to start looking

It seems that most psychologists themselves are not sure what the meaning of life is. And they try to avoid this issue. It is complex, difficult, and there are no universal recipes. But in reality there are none.

But can we at least understand what the meaning of human life is, and does it change over time? Where to start looking for an answer to the question about the meaning of life if your life now seems meaningless to you, and for you these are not empty thoughts, but a really serious problem?

This may seem difficult at first.

How to find the meaning of life

There are several ways to find meaning in life. And they are all related to working on yourself.

Lead an active lifestyle

The frantic pace of life is so tiring that sometimes even on your legal day off you don’t want to do anything. The only desire is to lie in silence at home on the couch. But this is not a solution. So you definitely can’t find the meaning of life. So get up from the couch or chair and start moving.

To begin with, try responding to suggestions from friends and relatives to take a walk, go out into nature, or just walk through the park. Buy a pool or gym membership.

It can be done simpler. Go outside when it's raining. Listen to your feelings. Take a deep breath of fresh air and feel life. Realize that it is everywhere around you, you just need to learn to notice it.

Do something you've never done before

Another step you can take in your search for the answer to the question “how to find the meaning of life” is to leave your comfort zone from time to time. Let's say you suddenly realized that you want to draw. Don't hesitate, go to the store and buy all the necessary supplies. Or at least borrow from your child, if you have children, an album and pencils. Or suddenly the thought of swimming with dolphins struck you. Bring this idea to life, otherwise it will remain at the level of reflection.

There is another option - just get up early and admire the sunrise. This is the easiest thing you can do. But at the same time, this is a big step towards understanding why you live in this world.

Do not be afraid

To be afraid or not to be afraid - it all depends on you. In any case, life will end the same. And it’s up to you how you live it. Are you ready to live it in an embrace with your fears or do you want to experience incomparable emotions and pleasure from living the way you want?

Get to know yourself

It's not that difficult to do. You can try to look inside yourself, listen to the emotions and sensations at one time or another. Or you can use hundreds of psychological tests that you will find on the Internet. Whichever option you choose, this is an excellent opportunity to get to know yourself better as a person, find your strengths and weaknesses, and your personal meaning in life.

Feel needed

Another way to find the meaning of life if you don’t want anything. Try devoting part of your life to other people or, for example, animals. This is exactly what psychologists advise. Become a volunteer, visit an orphanage or a department where cancer patients are treated. Help others feel joy again and make them smile. This will not only help them, but also you. You will feel how life acquires its lost meaning, how it is filled with new emotions, desires and goals.

Remember that happiness is in the little things

Look for the good in everything around you. Only in this case will you learn to let life pass through you, to truly see and feel it.

To serve God

An individual living according to religious canons brings into his own existence those values that are important for a believer. Sometimes people try to fill the emptiness that often arises in their spiritual experiences. Not everyone manages to find the true meaning in faith, to understand the essence and meaning of existence. And not just justify your right to a place in the sun.

Christianity and other religions really can have a strong influence on a person:

Make it more enlightened.
Learn to look at the world with different eyes.
Make better.
Help you understand the true purpose of life.

Not everyone is given the ability to comprehend the rational that true faith carries within itself.

Is it possible to live without a goal in life?

Some people don't understand the meaning of life and therefore live without it. But such people lack internal motivation and are unlikely to achieve anything in their lives. After all, if a person does not set goals for himself, it is difficult for him to strive for an ideal life. If a person does not understand what the meaning of his life is, he becomes weak and it is very difficult for him to achieve anything.

If a person does not understand the meaning of his life, it is very easy to control him and make decisions for him, because often such people do not have their own opinion. As a result, their individuality suffers and they stop expressing their personality.

Psychologists say that people who do not see a purpose in their life often become drunkards, become depressed or commit suicide. To prevent this from happening to you, you need to make goals, plans and understand why you live on earth.

A person needs a goal. You yourself know about the samurai without a goal.

Will psychotherapy help in finding the meaning of life?

Yes - it's usually easier and faster. A long, unsuccessful search for purpose and meaning in life, as we know, can be psychologically draining and make you even more unhappy. In this situation, psychotherapy is a real chance to break out of the vicious circle.

Although it is believed that psychotherapeutic assistance is needed to solve mental problems such as depression, in fact, this tool, when used skillfully, is also suitable for problems at the existential level. Moreover, as psychology professor Clara Hill says, almost all the problems with which people turn to psychotherapists are indirectly related to the meaning of life. “Of course, no psychotherapist will tell you what the meaning of life is, but what he can do is help you to see that life has meaning - always, in any conditions and under any circumstances,” as the famous psychologist wrote Viktor Frankl, who studied the possibilities of psychotherapy in solving existential problems.

For those searching for meaning in life, a good psychotherapist can be a reliable guide to help them discover the feelings and ideas within themselves that lead to purpose and a sense of meaning. And then identify needs, prioritize and build a meaningful life around them.

Finding meaning in life is an individual task with many variables, so there is no best technique or universal method. For some, psychodrama or psychoanalysis is suitable, for others, cognitive behavioral or gestalt therapy.

Finding competent specialists, especially in one place, is not always easy - there are many pseudo-psychologists in this area who practice alternative methods not confirmed by science. Therefore, it is safest to look for a psychotherapist through proven services, for example, Zigmund.Online. They select specialists who practice approaches approved by the scientific community, check their experience, level of education and professional training. Another advantage of the service is a special algorithm that helps select a specialist based on your personal request, so that working with him is as simple and effective as possible. This increases the likelihood of finding “your” psychotherapist on the first visit. To make the decision easier, the service offers the first two sessions with a psychotherapist for the price of one - for 2,490 rubles.

What is a sense of life? Eternal question

— The eternal question: not how to live, but for what? What is the meaning of human life here on earth?

Father Boris: Seventy years ago I heard a story on French radio.

There lived one man, he had great spiritual needs, he strived for spiritual life, culture, aesthetics. And he was forced to live in extremely philistine conditions. At work - he knew in advance - all his colleagues would never forget to wear satin arm ruffles, so as not to spoil the sleeves of their jacket when you sit and write all day. They will not forget to put a pillow on the seat of the chair so as not to give themselves hemorrhoids. He knew in advance that they would talk about how they spent Sunday, what easy victories they had, how they had low-class fun - who would get drunk, who would be with the girls... He knew that he would come home in the evening, and at home his wife would open the door and say : “It’s good that you came. Take off your shoes - our floors have just been polished. Take off your shirt quickly - the laundress will come to take away the dirty linen. And at the same time, look - I put veal in the oven. You know, your mother-in-law doesn’t like it when veal burns.” He is horrified: “I can’t do it anymore!!! My soul thirsts for emotions - spiritual... cultural... and here - vulgarity and philistinism both at work and at home.” And he gets into a noose.

Constant self-development

What does a person live for? It is important to understand that each of us is an inquisitive, intelligent being with enormous potential. Human nature is such that it always strives to learn something new, starting from an early age. Small children reach for a hot pan and in just a moment they will gain the invaluable experience that some objects can burn. An adult betrays his friend and understands that it is very difficult to cope alone in this world.

For some, the life lessons they receive are enough. And someone goes further and continues to study. Such people strive to turn the world inside out, to understand how everything is structured and works, from the laws of physics to the psychology of living beings.

Self-development strengthens self-confidence and makes you more significant than others. Such people understand that they can contribute to the development of our world, even in such a short life. Learn languages, communicate with people, master new professions, don’t be shy to watch documentaries, learn to analyze and don’t be afraid to think all the time, build hypotheses and test them.