Part One

You, as millions of others, have found yourself asking the ever-popular question, “What is the meaning to the life?”. Well, it is all perception for the majority of humans.

To find that answer, you have to go to the root of “meaning”. Think about the basic needs of a human for existence. These would be:

• Food Source
• Fresh Water
• Oxygen

At the very basics, these are the essentials. This will keep someone alive. These are our most carnal needs in life. Beyond these three basic elements of life, the rest are just ‘extras’, right?

Not exactly.

This is where science, religion, and overall theorists can politely agree to disagree on different aspects and ideology. The most basic necessities to life are indeed food, water, and oxygen. These keep a person at the basic level of existence. These are items that are required to participate in life.

You think beyond these basic participation requirements, there are more complicated necessities. One in which we think of right off is “meaning”. Are we meant to just find fresh water, food, and take in oxygen? No. We are more in-depth and created for more.

This is where many years and countless hours of research have been expended among scholars and inspired minds. You will get similar hypotheses and even starkly contrasting ones. From my journey thus far, and from what I have found as fact and truth, I will share some keys to the meaning of life.

Beyond the basic life staples that we must have to just survive, there are important elements that we must have to thrive. Survive and thrive are different. The basic survival elements are again, the basic functions to exist. To thrive is to understand our meaning and flourish. This is where we find our meaning.

In the next several weeks, I will post every Sunday, a new post regarding this. This is one of several in a series. We will start off this one with a golden standard.

Socialization and belonging.

This is an important key element to the human race. Inside each and every one of us is the need to belong and socialize with one another. We need one another. Humans have done more as a “tribe” than by themselves. As much as you may disagree if you are a self-proclaimed hermit or loner, people isolating themselves from others come from negative socialization and/or some traumatic experience early in life or beyond. When you see violence and other negative acts and actions between humans, this is a small fraction compared to those that live in some type of harmony.

People thrive when they are surrounded by others and exist together. There are so many different elements found within a tribe when you examine what people are getting from one another. This goes back to the days when humans existed together for the basic elements. The basics were met, but belonging was important.

That simple bond ones shared as they coexisted in a very vast and beautifully misunderstood world. The sense of belonging.

The negative side effect of this now is our mass amount of information which has perverted this more and has made people susceptible to become violent, judgmental, materialistic, and narcissistic. These bad characteristics of humans can be attributed to a very small percentage of our population. Which in this age, that type of negative influence makes it to the forefront of information (also known as news or media). Without proper conditioning and understanding of the information we consume; it is basically up to the consumer to decipher. With all good things, come bad. Yet it is within our DNA makeup to make decisions which may be right or could be wrong. The plethora of fiction that exists in books, movies, shows, print, and even personalities, it is no wonder why we are we are as a human race. The discernment of reality has become narrower by the decade.

Hundreds of years ago, the elders in a tribe told stories to others as “lessons” of what not to do and the dangers that could ensue. These were mostly fabricated but served as guidance to an extent. They helped provide moral compass.

As an eternal optimist, I can find the good in everyone. Yes, everyone. It exists. Even in the darkest of souls. Good and evil exist in harmony. They need each other to survive, much like ourselves. Although, you will always have a power struggle in a tribe as good and evil always will exist and be at war against one another.

How can one know what is “bad” if they never experience it and know what it is? Think about that. Parents raise their children more sheltered now than one hundred years ago and it shows. Our children now are becoming social isolationists and oblivious to all. They no longer possess the basic human element to form a healthy tribe. Electronic communication has become the source of communication in some societies, again, there has been no push by others to make sure we understand that majority of what comes out of this channel is sensationalized, heavily biased, and not very factual.

After research data and just overall observation, I noticed there are stronger human bonds between children and adults in third world countries than in countries with advanced infrastructure and economies. Shockingly, there were fewer cases of mental illness such as depression, anxiety, and serious psychotic illness. Shocking, I know. You would think that life in a third world country would be rough and spur mental illness. It is rough, yet those who do not get conditioned to having material possessions and luxury do not yearn or lust for it. A study of native tribes in other countries that still exist today show a stronger family bond and stronger moral compass than those who push religion and classification. Go figure.

Millenia ago, when a population of people experienced issues with one of the members, it would “cull” that members. Abolish them from the tribe and not permit them from living within their community. You can imagine how that went. They either died from lack of resources, found another tribe, or turned to tormenting those that turned their back on them and committed violence. We could spend hours going over this, but we will focus on the overall tribal ideology.

Where did we go wrong? When we started adding in the ingredients for a recipe for disaster. These ingredients are things such as religion, ideology, and classification. These are made to separate us and turn us against one another. Natural, right? Yes and no. I am not denouncing spirituality, yet much emphasis on control and rules is laid by religion. I am spiritual, yet do not belong to a religion. This practice alone isolates me from those that worship a book instead of a beautiful world around them.

We are advanced beyond other creatures on this planet, yet we choose to lower ourselves to those primal standards subconsciously. This is where the problem lies. We are all different, yet we are not. Arrogance runs amuck and makes one feel superior to another. Not saying in some cases that a mental or physical superiority cannot exist, but that does not make it right. This is where you find the strength in one and use it to the value of many. Every soul has strength, as they do a weakness.

To find compromise is the magical key that makes us an advanced species. We are inclined to group together and need one another. Yet some feel the need to dominate and destroy. They choose to consume and never give, reap and never sow. What has made some turn to this? The information is all around, you have to choose to critically dissect it and understand it. Choose to free yourself from fictional ideology and see reality.

When you learn that balance, moderation, and compromise is the key to all, you will understand one of the main elements to the meaning of life. We belong together.

to be continued…

dK