meaning of whose life?

once in a while, we'll come across the big question, "the meaning of life".

do we mean, the meaning of my life? why i exist, and what i'm supposed to do?

or, the meaning of life in general? including flowers, bacteria, and sushi? why does life exist at all, and do we believe in evolution or intelligent design?

though these are not mutually exclusive questions, one way to start might be to narrow down whose life we're trying to figure out.

locating the meaning in life

so, assuming locating the meaning in our particular lives is of paramount importance, in order to lead a fulfilling and content existence, how do we go about doing it? how do we determine this particular thing or cause is the thing we should live for, rather than some other thing? don't these things change all the time, according to our moods, time of day, stage in life?

perhaps - the point is to find meaning in whatever it is we do, and not get tripped up by the meaning in life, rather we should refer it as a generally meaningful life?

or perhaps, we need some kind of ultimate meaningful thing as a distant goal to keep us going?

or, do a bunch of what i would consider meaningful things and see where it goes from there? and what precisely are those things?

meaning of life vs meaning in life

why do i exist vs what do i exist for?

a minor but not unimportant distinction.

the former, we'll generally never agree on and no particular theory or belief can be absolutely proved or disproved.

the latter, we can all generally agree that each of us has to find and tread our own specific path.