The Meaning of Life

I have always questioned and wondered about the meaning of life. Somewhere during 2004 I wrote in a note book the following:

"I'm searching for a deeper meaning of life, but more importantly....my life!"

It took 3 years of searching before I came across Dr. Victor Frankl's book 'Man's Search for Meaning.' Dr. Frankl was a prisoner in Auschwitz Concentration camp and other camps where "he found himself stripped to naked existence." He wrote the following:

"We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think ourselves as those who were being questioned by life - daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.

These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus it is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way. Questions about the meaning of life can never be answered by sweeping statements. "Life" does not mean something vague, but something very real and concrete, just as life's tasks are also very real and concrete. They form man's destiny, which is different and unique for each individual. No man and no destiny can be compared with any other man or any other destiny.

When I read this, I didn't feel the earth move under my feet, but I felt peace and calm. I finally feel like I can live in the present, give my attention to daily and hourly tasks, knowing that the meaning of my life is constantly changing and there is no set meaning. It makes living in the present finally do-able.