The meaning(s) of life comes from the journey not
the goal
"There can be no doubt that our brains thrive on
novelty which is why happiness and wellbeing should never be the destination but
the journey"
Michelle McQuaid, From Functioning to Flourishing.
Many believe a worldview gives their life meaning.
They say that to believe is not to have some random or evidence lacking
explanation that you enforce on your life. It comes from your experience of
living. It is not a top-down worldview. It starts here and leads to a worldview.
Essentially they are saying the journey gives meaning when you choose to make
the journey and accept what you find on the way when you can't do other than
accept it.
Do you only ever put movies on to see how they end? You play football. You enjoy it. You do not use football to get pleasures. Football is the pleasure.
Do you ever read only the last chapter of a book? It is
the journey the movie or game or book takes to the every end that matters more
than the end. You miss out on the fun by worrying only about goals or ends. They
are not that important. It is better to enjoy the now than to be too
future-focused.
You struggle through family disapproval, rejection, time-consuming exercise and
injury to become an Olympic athlete. Is it all worth it? If you reach the goal
you MAY feel that it is. Suppose you do feel. But that may be how you feel and
may not be a reflection of the reality. It is easy to feel that it is worth it
when it is not. People forget that the goal is only a focus. It is the means to
the goal and the goal itself that are fulfilling and important. The means to the
goal are actually more important than the goal. It is the means to the goal that
give the goal meaning. Hence what really gives meaning to life is the journey
not the destination.
Religion by offering a Heaven where every tear is wiped away and telling us that
this world will pass away and it is only truly Heaven that matters is trying to
spoil the meaning that the journey gives us. It arrogantly focuses on the goal.
If you really believe that this life is only a stop on the way to the life that
really matters then you shouldn't be able to derive meaning from religious
belief. If you feel there is meaning in your life, then it is because you don't
really believe that religious stuff after all!
The journey is mainly or totally about being prepared. Preparing yourself for
suffering and evil and death actually mean you bless your own life. No goal
means anything unless you are prepared for it. The preparing makes it matter.
The well-balanced person is not afraid of inevitable disaster. She accepts it
and promises herself she will make the best of whatever happens which is why she
needs to accept it. She considers herself to be a worthwhile person who deserves
nice things and to have a positive and good self-image. She sees her faults as
flaws that have to happen but which do not make her a bad person. They make her
an interesting person provided she channels the inclination to evil in the best
and most sensible way possible. God wants the evil in her destroyed for he is
perfect as Jesus said. Therefore God is a roadblock to mental stability. She
does not need God at all but only self-esteem and self-compassion. To have God
as a support is to take the long road to happiness and is therefore incompatible
with self-esteem and self-compassion which requires that you grab happiness as
fast as possible and as is reasonable. Also when it is your doing that you have
faith in God and if that helps you that means you can help yourself without it
and should have. Unbelievers in a life after death and in God can be very stable
and happy meaning that those who believe are ill. Commitment to religion is a
mental disorder. God and gods have been made up for one purpose only and that is
to make people dependent on the clergy by breaking down their faith in
themselves so that they need the clergy and religion to control them.