Yeah, I know it sounds pretentious to know the meaning of life. But one day a few years ago, while I was lying in some tall grass with a couple of friends, gazing up at the clouds and thinking about a recent brush with death, I came upon a definition that works for me.
Well, the thing is, it's not quite a definition of life. It's more like a way of living. Or maybe a blueprint for good karma. Or maybe it's just what works for me; your mileage may vary.
Anyway, it's a two-part process, very much like breathing.
First, like inhaling, live. Fill your spirit with everything life has to offer; run from nothing. The good, the bad, the happy, the sad---take it all in and learn from it. Don't shelter yourself from anything. Don't be afraid. Go forward without hesitation.
Live!
Then, like exhaling, love. When you act, act out of love. If the act you are about to perform is not a loving act, think again.
Love!
It's a simple as that. Live. Love. Live/love. Live love.
Why love is the answer.
Why is love the answer? Think of it this way.
One day, I see you outside and you are cold. I am wearing a sweater, so I take it off and give it to you. More than likely though, I will then get cold and I will want for a sweater.
The exchange of objects only goes so far.
On the other hand, I could tell you where you could find warmth and shelter. I get to keep my sweater, and you can get warm.
The exchange of information leaves one party enriched and the first party no worse off than she or he started.
Love is not like exchanging objects or information. Love creates itself.
When I love you and you accept my love, you feel enriched and strangely enough, I feel enriched as well. How did that happen? How can I give you something and still have more than when I started?
If you accept my love, you might feel tempted to give some love back to me. If I accept it, I am further enriched, and you feel strangely enriched also. Where did all of this extra love come from? What's going on here? How come I felt a little bit, and now both of us are feeling so much more?
So instead of giving you my sweater, or telling you where the nearest shelter is, we go together and I buy you a cup of tea, and we sit and talk about where we've been. Invariably we find similarities in our lives and we feel touched on a core level.
And when the tea is gone, we feel enriched, as if we haven't wasted our time, haven't wasted the day, haven't wasted our lives here on earth.