Meaningless or Meaningful

Recently someone said the word, “Meaningless...” to me. They said it in a positive way as if there is nothing wrong with being meaningless. That person is right, something without meaning also is without substance and therefore is not wrong. It is also not right. It is, by definition, meaningless. My argument was thus (although admittedly I started this argument at that time, I barely touched upon it as I became focused on another task) Things without meaning are also pointless. It can be argued that while no bad can come out of such things, no good can come from such things either. When I was young, I didn’t understand what these two words really meant (meaningless and meaningful, in case you forgot) I felt that the only things that were really important, revolved around my personal sense of physical, emotional and spiritual comfort. In other words, I was a self absorbed and self centered prick. As I got older, I realized my line of thinking was flawed because no one would stay in a relationship (friendship or otherwise) with someone like that (at least not a good relationship). Therefore, all of my actions and decisions became meaningless because they did not benefit anyone, not even me. As I got older still, I began to understand that making others feel valued was a key to making myself feel valued. These things have meaning. I eventually decided to try to fill my life with things that were meaningful. The reasons are simple to me...

If I were to go around and do meaningless things without regard for myself or others, my very existence becomes meaningless. Within my meaningless existence, if I even tried to do things of meaning or have meaningful relationships, my actions would be viewed as meaningless (or at the very least selfish) by others. Trust me, I’ve already been there.

If I try to cultivate meaningful relationships and do meaningful actions towards others, then my existence becomes meaningful and then even apparently meaningless actions have meaning.

I, by no means, believe that every single thing anyone does, can or even should have meaning. On the contrary, sometimes meaningless things can be good, in the right context and for the right reasons (which, in turn gives them some kind of meaning) or even bad for all of the same reasons. Meaningless or meaningful, I guess it is just a choice.