Considered the wisest animal on the face of this planet earth, a human’s life is worth possessing some meaningfulness.
Our closest ancestors, the monkeys, look for an example for an instance at them.
Can they match up with us humans in any way?
You all have the answer.
No! They can’t be.
As human beings, you are able to think, rationalize, analyze, decide whether to do something or not, to leave somethings, do have something, and then decide to work for these.
If you would have been an animal, other than a human, you would simply live for eating and then die, obviously imparting some value to the ecosystem and the planet itself, but would it be anywhere close to what you, as humans, could do?
You can think of your surroundings; you can bring forth changes to the things which are not right. You can improve the malfunctioning things.
Now speaking about your meaningfulness in this world, it’s first important to know how you think, the psychology behind your thinking.
If you have been, say the monkey, what would you do if you were hungry?
Right! You could grab fruits from trees, or at your best, you could steal the food of people. It’s sure you wouldn’t stay hungry for a long time.
But now, as you aren’t a monkey, what can you do when you are hungry?
You can buy food.
No money! You can ask for food from your parents, friends, office mates.
You are alone; no one’s around?
Well, you can order food at your place.
You are broke financially, you can beg, or can dance to entertain people to draw out the dime from their pockets and then buy food for yourself.
Even worse, you are not getting anything as you beg.
You can steal, murder, rob, people, and houses.
Now here’s why you are different than the first subject –the monkeys.
Even if you are at your worst and broke and have been left with the only option to rob from people, your sense of the meaning of life and its value comes into play. Say, if you are just about to rob the first man, or kill the first man, for stealing the money for food, and your needs, you would still keep thinking about the trauma, that the man or woman will go through if you steal their money and food or what pain the person and his family will feel if you kill him or her.
May, be, you can find some way out of this situation by going to some police station and ask from them for a meal and ask in the neighborhood for a job; not an authentic one, but a cleaning job, like cleaning their backyards for food, cleaning their cars for some money, or even food.
Let us say this part of fulfilling one’s needs for food, and the shortage of money is solved by the above context. Now what ? Where is the ‘meaning’?
Let me bring you to a whole other scenario, where you are rich, and you have more than enough. You see the beggars or street people daily; you are reading the news of rapes, and orphanages facing lawsuits. Maybe you have already been through a time of resourcelessness and poverty, and you can feel their pain. Even if not, you might feel the sense of responsibility for the needy and are willing to spend on others too.
In the first place, you were wealthy, but sharing your wealth imparted meaning to your being.
But not everyone is wealthy, right?
What, in your case, is a meaningful life, if you do not have wealth, or are barely making it?
You still are a human. There are numerous people around you each day.
May be an office mate is struggling with a breakup; you can motivate and tell him or her that he or she is still worth something, and that relationship was not everything life is about.
Maybe someone in your college is unable to pay his semester fees.
You can save your pocket money to help that person; you can also bring your friends into this good cause by asking them to do the same to help this guy or girl.
What if you are a police officer, and you find your superior is charging false accusations on some person for monetary benefits. You can stand against your superior. You can help an innocent their way out of some trouble like that.
What if you are a doctor and your patient needs this surgery and medication done but unable to pay for it? Can you let some of your bank balance be used for this patient, instead of simply suggesting the patient visit some charitable hospitals, where they can get their treatment for free?
Your kids are already in the best school in the city; you already have a house and enough money to keep your hospital or clinic running for the next year. Can you let some of that money for someone in need?
There are numerous ways you can add meaningfulness to your life, and if you say why is it necessary for a ‘human’?
“Hey, you, the ‘first subject’; you still there!”
Photo Pooja 