The Meaning Of Life

What is the meaning of life? Have you ever asked yourself that? Is it getting a good education when you’re younger so that you can land yourself the perfect job when you grow up? Become a doctor, lawyer or engineer>? Or a successful businessperson, the CEO or a multimillion dollar company?

Become a well respected person with a lot of money?

And what are you going to do with the money? Buy a huge big bungalow? Several cars? A jet ski? A yacht? A piece of land?

I mean of course these are all great ambitions. Work hard to provide a perfect and comfortable life for your family and yourself. Own as many material possessions as you want.And then- what? The funny thing about human nature is that we are never satisfied with what we have. When we have a car, we want a better car. We have a house, we want a bigger house. We are always yearning for more. So we work and work and climb to the top of our career ladder and earn as much money as possible, and then what? Bring all our money and possessions to the grave?

We are often so caught up in the whirlwind of earning more money to support ourselves and our families that we fail to see what actual meaning of life is.

I mean- don’t get me wrong, of course we need money to lead a comfortable life. But are money and material possessions all there is in life? I see my mother, working so hard daily, contacting customers to come to her beauty centre. Is she happy?

What makes you happy? Have you ever asked yourself that? Is it your family? Your job? Food? Coffee? Travelling? Friends? Of course all these things make us happy- but for how long? Families break apart, people die. People get fired from jobs everyday. Too much food makes you fat and unhealthy.. Too much coffee isn’t good too. You can’t afford to travel all the time. Friends drift apart. So ask yourself again- what ACTUALLY makes you happy?

The reason I’m asking all these questions is because there is a missing hole in my life right now. I have always felt it, but these past few days- even more than ever. I am asking myself this question more and more now. I have just finished reading a book by a neurosurgeon in his final year of residency who died of stage 4 lung cancer, entitled ‘When Breath Becomes Air.’. In his book, he beautifully described his quest for the meaning of life and his transformation from doctor to patient overnight. ( I would highly recommend this book). Reading it made me question- what is the main purpose of life and living?

I am a practising Christian- I go to church every week, I do my daily devotions every night and pray every morning. I have even read ‘The ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren. Still it doesn’t give me the answers it should. I am always told that God is the answer to all this, but why can’t I feel the joy and satisfaction in God which all Christians feel?

I feel so empty inside. In theory, I am supposed to be so happy and contented with my life right now. I have a loving family who care for me, my faith in God, a beautiful GP clinic, while practising aesthetics upstairs in my mom’s shop. I am supposed to get my LCP license in a couple of years time so that I can freely practise aesthetics in my clinic. My entire future is being mapped out for me. ( Just like most Asian- especially Chinese children’s futures are). By being an aesthetic doctor- I can help up my mom’s beauty centre, as over here we need qualified aesthetic doctors to be able to perform aesthetics procedures. But somehow, this prospect doesn’t excite me as much as it should. Customers, as is human nature, complain when they aren’t satisfied with the results. When they are satisfied, they remain silent. Lately, I have been trying a new type of filler, and it procedures instant and satisfying results. Every customer I perform the procedure on are satisfied, but somehow I still don’t gain the satisfaction in it.

What makes me happy? My family, coffee, going online, chatting with online friends, good food. But even those give only temporary joy, lasting for only a few minutes.

I have heard the saying  ‘Find a job you like, and you wouldn’t have to work a single day of your life’ But what do I actually like to do? I don’t know. I would answer that I love writing and I love encouraging others. Then what? What can I do with this passion of mine?

For some time, I thought that I can pour my passion by writing fanfics, but that doesn’t seem to work.

Everything I do- I put my heart and soul into it. And this extends to fanfics too- so much so that I put too much pressure on myself, editing, reediting and wishing for feedback. And that now takes away my joy of writing fanfics too.

I am stuck. I really don’t know what to do with my life. I can’t talk to my family members or anyone in real life because nobody in my real life supports my passion for writing. So yeah, this is me- pouring my heart out to strangers, because somehow that weirdly feels so much easier than pouring my heart out to loved ones.