I have eternally asked myself one essential question in this life: “What is the meaning of life?” And I have endlessly tried to figure out how to find the meaning of life in one’s life. Finding the meaning of life in one’s life has become my obsession and mission in my life. In all my life, I never buy what society has forever been selling to us: finding a good job and walking 5 days a week until reaching the age of retirement. I don’t think that this is the meaning of life; on the contrary, I believe that this is utterly wasting one’s time on his or her brief sojourn to this delightful earth. Therefore, I have started reading books and knocking about the world to find out what the meaning of life is. The result is that I wrote Liberation – Seeking the Meaning of Life, which has been released on May 1, 2022.
Truth to be told, I have still been seeking the meaning of life myself; however, I have some inklings of what the meaning of life is. I believe that finding who you truly are is the starting point to understand the meaning of life. And you must figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life and do what you are supposed to do every single day; otherwise, your life will be meaningless. Even if it is difficult and challenging for you to find what you really want to do for the rest of your life, you must face the music and talk to your heart in earnest. If you do not figure out what you are passionate about and what you want to do from the deepest heart, it will be tantamount to wasting your limited time on this magnificent earth. Life is an extremely short journey and time has elapsed so fast each day as a bolt of lightning. Without a purpose in your life, life will be meaningless and humdrum business: You will feel bored every single day. And to cap it all, every day will become the same as yesterday for the rest of your life. Is it called life? – I don’t think so.
Short Summary Of The Meaning Of Life That I Believe:
- I really don’t think working five days a week is the meaning of life.
- The meaning of life is not working five days a week until you become decrepit, nor keeping on earning money till death, or pretending to be someone else for the sake of earning money till the dying day.
- The meaning of life is realizing who you truly are, doing every day what your heart desires, and enjoying just being alive.
- The meaning of life is making true friends who are always there for you whether you are happy or unhappy.
- You should know what you don’t want to do in your life and clearly know what kind of life you want to lead.
- Find your mission in your life – just do what you must do and think about only your mission in your life every day.
- You must walk on your private destiny relentlessly and fulfill your destiny.
- Figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life
- You should learn how to enjoy life more than how to make money
- The important thing is whether you fight for your dear life each day even if you have no idea what sort of road you’re going to walk on in the future. And I am pretty sure that you’ll figure out what you want to do in your life along the road.
Life Is Immense and Offers a Lot of Opportunities
Nothing is eternal. Everything comes to an end someday since life is transitory. That is why every single moment is precious to all of us. Every chapter of life has a beginning and an ending – so is your life. That is why you have to enjoy each day and stop doing what you don’t like to be happy in your brief sojourn on this earth. When one can spend wonderful moments and enjoy life every day with an abundance of heart, time will elapse so fast without recognizing its quickness. On the other hand, when one is obliged to endure a humdrum existence every day with a weary heart, time will become perdurable, and he will be tortured by its dragging way of elapsing. Here are the descriptions of my belief in the meaning of life from Liberation – Seeking the Meaning of Life:
I asked for another cigarette, and he reluctantly gave it to me. I lit it and said casually: “But, Yoshi, I just said you should take a vacation to learn new things and make new friends from different countries because they think and behave differently from the Japanese. I just thought it might help you to understand the meaning of life. Anyway, it’s okay with me if you don’t want to see the world because it’s your life. Please forgive me for saying this, but I pity you sincerely because you said you have nothing to do if you have a lot of free time which implies you don’t have real friends. Life is immense and offers a lot of opportunities if you look at it another way. I know the Japanese are busy keeping their jobs, nothing more, and nothing less. Like you, they just waste their time making money and don’t know how to enjoy their lives. If you had real friends, you would always want to go out with them and would have a lot of plans to share your joy of life with them. By the way, you complained about your boss and job circumstances before if I remember correctly. Are you truly happy just working every single day for the rest of your life without anything to show for your dear life? When do you usually feel happy? I’m very sure that when you work, and your boss scowls at you for nothing, you are not happy. For that reason, I assume while you’re being on the job, you’re not happy. Tell me, Yoshi?”
I tell you, my fellow Japanese, the meaning of life is not working five days a week until you become decrepit, nor keeping on earning money till death, nor pretending to be someone else for the sake of earning money till the dying day. In my humble opinion, the meaning of life is realizing who you truly are, doing every day what your heart desires, and enjoying just being alive. Above all, making friends is the most essential one. Even though I have still been seeking for the meaning of life myself, I ought to force even you to comprehend that I am close to the truth. If you will not start enjoying your life and will not try to figure out who you truly are, you are dangerously wasting your limited time on this delightful earth.
Cannot Stop Thinking About What the Meaning of Life Is
When I decided to embark on the journey of finding what the meaning of life is, I went to Vancouver, where I met Gerardo who has become my lifelong friend. And he invited me, “You should come to Mexico to enjoy life with us.” And later he opined, “I think Vancouver did not change you, but Mexico changed you since you saw diametrically opposite culture from Japan. And you’ve loved it!”
Before going to Mexico, he said, “Shogo, you will love my brother (Jorgito) since he thinks completely in the same way as you do: he forever talks about what the meaning of life is.” As soon as I met Jorgito, we were clicked. We could not stop talking and he became my friend instantly. Since then, he has become one of my best friends. We have endlessly talked about what the meaning of life is since the very first time we met each other. Here is an excerption we talked about what the meaning of life is from Liberation – Seeking the Meaning of Life:
It was almost three years ago when we went to Acapulco and rented a very beautiful house on the cliff with a wonderful ocean view. There were ten of us then, eight Mexicans, one American, and me. Jorgito and I were sitting in the garden beside the pool. And he said, “I’m so glad to see you again, my friend, because I want to talk to you about a lot of things. I’ve been vexed. Now you are on the vacation, and I know you don’t want to talk about your job circumstances but tell me sincerely how you feel every day as a slave in Japan?”
“Jorgito, I don’t need to express how I hate my job to you because you already knew. I don’t want to take a job, but I have no choice, my friend because I have a mission in my life. I want to go back to Vancouver, which has everything I need. For example, English Bay and Stanley Park where I can peacefully stroll around, every corner of the downtown where I can find coffee shops, beautiful mountains, beautiful women, and so on and so forth. I really want to go back to Vancouver to write my book as soon as possible. However, it is too depressing for me to go to work every single day, and I am totally aware that I’m wasting my precious time.”
“Exactly!” he exclaimed. “You know, Shogo, likewise I always feel I’m completely wasting my time. I’m thinking constantly about what the meaning of life is. It’s always on my mind. I can’t shake it off. I really don’t think working five days a week is the meaning of life. But mediocrities’ goals are having a right to work and getting a good job. Are they nuts? It is insane, my friend. Why do I have to work five days a week for the rest of my life? Life is one time. Who decided in the first place that we, human beings, have to work five days a week? I really want to know because if I could go back to find a culprit, I would strangle him to death. I mean it. I am so angry at this fucking society system.”
“You know, Shogo, I can’t talk about my true feelings with my Mexican friends because they think I am cracked. They don’t understand what I’m talking about, but they always think about how to get a good job and how to get a good salary. They always talk about money. I don’t care about fucking money. I don’t want to be a millionaire. But I just need a little money to take care of myself without being employed. I just want to have my own business and don’t need any employees. I just want to work for myself and want to be free from this fucking society system. Whenever I am in my office, I am no longer Jorgito anymore. I just want to be Jorgito all the time! Every time I tell my friends about my vision of life, they ridicule me, call me a moron, and tell me to wake up and take my life more seriously. Only you perfectly understand me. We are the same kind, Shogo. Tell me what I have to do so that I can achieve my goal?”
I replied considerately, “Jorgito, I totally understand how you feel, you know because I am completely in the same situation in Japan. It can be safe to say that Japanese people’s lack of understanding of the meaning of life is much worse than Mexicans. People simply can’t understand what we are talking about, which I’ve learned from my sufferings. I really think you are special because ordinary people are not able to think about the meaning of life, but you always think about it. They only know how to think about earning money. You want to enjoy life more than anyone else. I think you are the one who takes life more seriously than anyone else. You absolutely know what you don’t want to do in your life and clearly know what kind of life you want to lead. I suppose your friends are jealous of you and envy you secretly because you have the courage to express what you feel and have the courage to persevere for what you believe in. And they know in the depth of their hearts that they don’t have the courage to act as you do. They are actually the cowering ones. I think you don’t need to explain to mediocrities what you are doing because they’ll only give you pessimistic answers. Ordinary people are ignorant about life, but we are the ones who know about life more than anyone else because we’ve been trying to understand it. You just do what you must do and think about only your mission in your life every day. Just ignore ordinary people because talking with fools is completely wasting your time. You don’t have any time to waste, for you must fulfill your destiny. I always ignore Japanese and concentrate on my mission; it’s very hard though.”
I took a cold Fresca from the table and drank it to quench my thirst.
“Yes, it is goddamn difficult for me to persevere my mission in Japan. I am perpetually vexed, depressed, and melancholic. The perfect trilogy, ha-ha-ha. That’s the truth. That’s why I always take a vacation every six months to visit Mexico. Frankly, Jorgito, whenever picturing to myself that I’ll be working five days a week like a slave for the rest of my life, I feel like committing suicide. I really don’t want to hang around with Japanese because every time I go out with them, they always complain about their job circumstances. They just want to get it off their chest, so that they can go to work the next day as if their sufferings had disappeared. You know, I don’t want to jeopardize my life like them. They are incurably ignorant because they will do what they don’t like for the rest of life and will never know of the meaning of life. When they retire, they will realize they haven’t done anything in their lives except work five days a week constantly. It will be too late for them to change their lives at that juncture because they will be simply too old to do it and will be totally depressed if they think about it seriously. What they will have in their heart for the rest of their old live is: absolute regret for their past life. I refuse to be like them and be happy being alone in Japan even if I sometimes feel unbearable loneliness. You’ll be better off alone, trust me, Jorgito. It’s better to be alone than with someone who doesn’t understand you. Besides, I don’t have any time to listen to their nonsense because I have an important mission to fulfill. Being a writer is the most important thing in my life, not taking a job like a slave. Hence, I always contemplate about my new adventure, namely, going back to Vancouver to write my book which gives me hope and courage.”
Here he was jumping around the chair and interrupting me delightedly, “You are the man, Shogo! You always teach me how to endure my sufferings and what I have to do to fulfill my mission. You know, Shogo, I totally agree with what you said, everything is down to the last details, and you always inspire me. I promise I’ll do my best for my mission and will soon quit my job so that I can be free. I know my friends will say a lot of foolish things to me, but I’ll ignore them. If I try to explain to them what I’m doing, it’ll be wasting my breath because they simply can’t understand. I have a great deal to achieve, so I can’t waste my precious time and breathe either, ha-ha-ha.”
Here I couldn’t refrain myself from bursting out laughing because of his pure enthusiasm and said, “Cheers for our freedom, my friend!”
“Salud por nuestra libertad, amigo!”
After a brief silence, he said, “You know, Shogo, you are one step ahead of me because you absolutely know what you want to do for the rest of your life. But for me, I just know I don’t want to participate in the social system, don’t want to be employed, and just want to be free.”
“I guess it doesn’t matter. The important thing is whether you fight for your dear life each day even if you have no idea what sort of road you’re going to walk on in the future. And I am pretty sure that you’ll figure out what you want to do in your life along the road.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Thank you very much for always encouraging me, Shogo. But I feel as long as I am employed, I can’t escape from this frivolous society system and cannot find the exit. I’ve been running, running to try to escape from this mess in all my life, but I only find walls that have obstinately blocked me so far. But you know, I am a warrior; I’ll fight for my dear life until I’ll find the exit! I think God has sent you into my life so that I can complete my mission, I really think so.”
He gulped a glass of whisky and pointed out a house down there with his pensive thought, “Look down there, can you see those houses, Shogo?”
“Yes, I can see them.”
“Shogo, here in Mexico we have a bunch of poor people. Our economy is very bad because of the fucking Mexican government. You know, Japan is a very rich country, and the Japanese might have money, but they don’t have any life, and they don’t know how to enjoy their lives. I think the Japanese are very sad people because they just work, work, work every day. See those people down there, even though their houses are almost decrepit, and they don’t have any money, they have mighty sunshine; they enjoy their lives so much, and the mighty sunshine gives them courage each day. We Mexicans know how to enjoy life with only sunshine!”
I was completely touched by this simple truth and exclaimed, “Jorgito, you are utterly right about it. Japanese are miserable creatures unfortunately who only know how to go to work on time every day. I am ashamed of my fellow countrymen. They should learn how to enjoy life more than how to make money; however, it’s hopeless for me to talk about the simple truth to them, shit! You are lucky for being a Mexican; not being Japanese, ha-ha-ha.”
He replied with tears of laughter in his eyes, “Shogo, you really hate Japan. I thoroughly understand you, so don’t worry. However, it’s so funny to see one genuinely despise his own country from the bottom of his heart, and I’ve never seen one expressing his hatred toward his own country so violently in my life. I am sorry, I’m laughing at you so much, but I can’t help it.”
He wiped his tears with the back of his left hand and continued, “Here we are just sitting with a beautiful view and aren’t being worried about anything. We’re just enjoying our talks and feeling so relaxed and peaceful. It is the meaning of life, Shogo!”
At this moment, Gabriel passed by and gave a loud fart right beside us without any embarrassment, as if it were a Mexican’s privilege to fart publicly to their heart’s content.
“Fucking Gabriel! He certainly has no shame, that idiot, but Jorgito, it’s the meaning of life, too!”
“Ha-ha-ha! Stupid Gabriel! It is the meaning of life, too, of course, Shogo!”
What Should You Do to Realize Your Destiny?
So, what is the meaning of life? I have studied and attempted to understand what the meaning of life is for a decade, but I haven’t still found a transparent answer for it. I am still confused and searching for it. However, I am quite sure that I have started seeing a glimpse of what the meaning of life is, and I am on the right way to understanding it:
ONE NEEDS TO FIND OUT WHAT HE OR SHE TRULY WANTS TO DO FOR THE REST OF LIFE FROM THE DEEPEST HEART.
By saying that, I would like to end this article with the passage from Liberation – Seeking the Meaning of Life:
He lit his cigarette afresh and carried on, “Shogo, your life has changed a great deal since you came to Mexico. Now you are unshakably on the way to your destiny. You wake up every morning with glorious purpose and are becoming surer of yourself, day by day. You know, Shogo, I want to be like you. I want to wake up each morning with effervescence. The problem is that I hate what I am doing and don’t know what I want to do for the rest of my life. I am an eternal businessman. I want to find out what I really want to do from the bottom of my heart like you. I want to change my life. What should I do to realize my destiny?”
I looked at his eyes sympathetically and replied, “My friend, I want to help you, and I’ll do everything for you when you need some help, but not this one. I am afraid to say, I can’t help you. In fact, nobody can help you, for you must realize what you want to do for the rest of your life by yourself. This is your task. Nobody can possibly help you with it, but only you yourself can help because this already exists inside your heart. You haven’t had enough courage to look at it candidly. Gerardo, you’d better start talking to your heart in earnest.”
THANKS FOR READING! I SINCERELY WISH THAT YOU WILL FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU TRULY WANT TO DO FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE PRETTY SOON!
