What's the meaning? What's important?

Being off work tends to bring out the philosopher in me. I have too much time to think, and my procrastination comes in the form of philosophical thoughts about life, instead of doing my work!!

So I've been thinking about what life's all about- the most important topic of all. What's really caused it this time is thinking about relationships again. I was head over heals, madly, deeply in love at the age of 17. So in love it pretty much made me ill. The person was all I could think about, and the fact that I couldn't have him was a constant ache in my soul. God had cheated me out of a soul mate. This was desire at its most pervasive, and most destructive. I felt the real impact of how desire leads to unhappiness in a very clear way.

It still stays with me today, now I'm at an age where I would really like to find somebody, fall in love, settle down, and eventually get married and have children. This experience I had of love at 17 is something that is probably never going to repeat. I'm never going to feel that strongly for someone again. But whenever I meet someone nice, perhaps I could go out with them, I realise, I don't love them. The way I feel isn't even a shadow of what I once felt for somebody. And then I think... how can I be happy with somebody again? I want to love somebody like that, and have them love me back. I want the real deal. I want beauty. But its probably not even possible. Only unrequited love can arouse those sorts of feelings. Had I been able to have the person I loved, things would have probably been very different, and it probably wouldn't have been long till even they seemed rather ordinary. I will never know.

So anyway, in thinking about the purpose of life, I wrote the following words of wisdom for myself, so I can live in a happy reality, rather than unsatisfied delusion. There comes a time when you need to see life for what it really is, and enjoy it and make the most of it for what it really is. Life is still beautiful, just in a different way to what I expected when I was young.

Life doesn’t owe you anything.

Every day children die because they don’t have enough food to eat, or clean water to drink.

People go without love.

Keep life in perspective. Its purpose was never just to make you happy.

Don’t expect life or people to be perfect, or to centre around your happiness.

Don’t want what you don’t have, but appreciate what you do have.

Be grateful for whatever blessings you do have. Count you blessings and be thankful for them everyday.

Go with the flow of life, enjoy the little things, and find happiness in simplicity.

Smile, laugh, have fun, lighten up, and love others.

Desire for what you do not or cannot have is the root of unhappiness. Contentment with life and what do have is the way to happiness.

Do not desire and search for beauty, but find and appreciate the beauty which is already in your life, in that which is available and attainable.

Try not to be self centred and interested only in your own happiness. Care about the happiness of others, and love them as you love yourself.

And remember, doing what is right is more important than your short term happiness; your moral actions are the point of your life and your legacy.