whats the point of doing anything in life if you die anyways?

Absolutely none. Zero. Nada. Zilch.

Unless of course you _choose_ to give it a meaning.

Well then, lets take it from the top. You say you know what you believe and yet you are here asking 'what is the point of life'......? Your question sounds clear enough but maybe I don't understand...are you asking: "What is the point of life?" The beliefs you already have, and which you seem to hold dear, should cover that well enough.

Or is there a hole in your beliefs big enough that it cannot be filled with the certainty that you know everything that you need to know.....a hole such as: "What am I, really? If I knew what I was, I'd know what the point is." Something like that...maybe?

Find out what you are. That is the point of life. It will keep you busy the rest of your life. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” so says Socrates. Not religious. It is a science - the precise science of the one who has stopped taking himself as the center of the universe and who can live with the incredible beauty and unexpectedness of a life without any center at all. Why should you care? You shouldn't care at all....about "your life" because what you think is "you"... is not. This is true. Find out why. It is not religious.

Isn't this what you are asking?

Sincere good luck.

"wake up, work, come home, raise a kid, go to school, be a millionaire, love as many people/ things as possible, why does any of this matter when it ends indefinitely why should you care?"

I don't, or more to the point I don't care for that kind of life. I chose to experience and enjoy it for what it is, and it is whatever I chose it to be.

No God or Jesus freakishness involved, just living for the moment and enjoying it. I have what I need, I won't be coerced into buying an ipod or TV on demand, under some illusion it'll somehow make my life more worthwhile, it wont.

The only thing that makes it worthwhile is me, and my outlook on life, I try to be positive and see the beauty in life and if I see the ugly I appreciate the ugly, because it makes other things beautiful.

It all comes down to changing our world by changing the way we think.

I and many other people in the world have wrestled with this exact same question at some point in our lives. It is a very personal question because only you can give or choose a meaning to your life ultimately. It is usually that meaning that allows us to see the point in accomplishing anything in this life when we just up and die at the end of it. A lot of people say that God or some other thing hands you a destiny and that is their way of coping with the question. Although I have chosen christianity for myself I say to hell with that logic. It's a lazy man's answer and I think if there is a God he's going to be very upset with these lackadaisical slackers who shirk responsibility by thinking such a way. So on that note, that's is all I'll say in a spiritual context and take a more secular approach for the rest.

I'm 33 now and I'd say the first time I wrestled with this question was in middle school. I'll also say that I have wrestled with it many times since. I'd say the first thing you have to do is answer the philosophical question of who you are. If you study sociology or psychology introductory textbooks (which you can pick up at any college bookstore or used book store if you don't mind an older edition) they can point you in the right direction to the questions one asks oneself to define who oneself is. Remember also that who you are changes over time as your priorities and values change so periodically you must ask yourself that question again. Hence why I've wrestled with the question of what's the point more then once. I can't tell you how long it will take to do this. Some it takes a relatively short time, others years, and others the search for who they are actually becomes who they are as they spend a lifetime searching.

Once this is done you may find you have found a purpose. You may find something worth doing even though you may die and it not matter to you anymore. Do you want something to continue after you? Does it comfort you to know it will? Is it worth living your life devoted to that in order to ensure it lives as long after you as possible? It's all about emotion I believe. Whatever you feel the strongest emotion about will become your purpose. Ultimately the only point to life is whatever point you want it to have. I mean your here so you might as well make the most of it. Having said that though I believe that you should have this secular ethic about it: use your freewill any way you choose as long as you cause no real violence upon someone else. In other words be responsible.

I hope you find a purpose or whatever phase you are in now passes after a time.

Hooray for nihilism. You could argue that the legacy of our actions in this life matter, that our discoveries, our achievements, and indeed our offspring are an influence on the ongoing story of humanity... however, you could also argue that it is all irrelevant because all life on this Earth will almost certainly be gone within 10,000 years, a very short time in terms of the history of the Universe, and there will be no-one to care about anything that may have ever happened in our little corner of the galaxy. I can only suggest the philosophical perspective that one must find one's own definition of meaning, in terms of our existence. "Meaning" is a very human concept. Outside of our own little blue dot in the galaxy, there seem to be a lot of things that are apparently meaningless... uninhabitable worlds, gas giants, black holes, bits of rock and dark matter... This could all point to one of two conclusions: 1) There is no meaning to anything, other than that which we imagine 2) There IS meaning, but it is beyond our capability to understand it. In light of this, I recommend simply having fun, and not taking it all too seriously. We have the ability to enrich our own lives by enriching the lives of those around us, spreading the fun, so to speak. Humanity is like a bunch of people trapped in a room with no windows or doors... might as well throw a party.

It matters what it is you choose to do. Sure, if the best in life you can expect is to be able to do what others: parents or society, expect of you, then there is no point. However, if you follow your true passion in life and do the things it compels you to do, then arguably your actions matter. There are some pretty interesting people in the world who left an indelible impression on it even after they left.

When you do in life something you like, and you do it with a zest, you contribute in three important ways. First of all, you become happy, and spread it around. Second, your example motivates people to follow their own passion, because they see how hapy it makes you. Finally, your actions continue to benefit others long after you left this world.

In summary, doing something with the right intention, because you care, makes you and others happy. Life doesn't really matter on its own, until you find your own personal goal and start bringing it about. Your ability to change life into something that you actually care about is the one that matters. To bring your goal to fruition because you want it and not somebody else, it is, well, forgive the corny expression, but it is divine.

I personally feel we are born to do something we like. To spend life passively, following someone else's will or desires cannot be all that fulfilling to most people. Find what you are good at it, and do it. There is probably a reason your are good at it, because you are meant to be doing it in your unique way.

Hope that helps a bit. Good Luck.

Death is an uncontrollable factor. If it's an uncontrollable factor in life then any thoughts and emotions we have on it are subjective....which basically mean they are pointless. So choose your perspective carefully, because there is many positive aspects in life that are because of death. I just understand it from this perspective, we can experience a range of emotions and feelings to such a depth because of death. This makes me enjoy being human because I'm just fascinated with emotions. Just remember if it's an uncontrollable factor your trying to beat you aren't going to win, so choose your perspective wisely. What's the point of life?...to live of course.

You want a point, you want to understand. You are the ego (thinking brain) who wishes to categorize life in terms of its technical function. The thinking brain is usefull for developing survival skills; now its being used to ask questions about the totality of living. There are millions of billions of solutions to such questions, depending upon your outlook on life. How will it help you?

There is nothing to understand holistically. Questions about living are not particular: living is many parts acting as one. So there is no separate parts, that is just your perception. It is hard to discern one part of an organism from the whole: we are part of the organism "earth" which itself is a part of the solar system, which itself is part of the galaxy, which itself is part of the universe. Within us, there are many smaller scales, which may consider themselves separate from us: our organs, and the individual cells that make them. At an atomic scale, each atom may consider itself separate. It depends upon where you draw the line of distinction. The universe seems to behave like a fractal pattern, but we only see parts of the fractal. Visual colours represent only a fraction of the electromagnetic spectra which is all around us, invisible to us.

If you don't draw the line of distinction, then there is nothing to understand. If there is nothing to understand: what will you do? There are only sensual experiences left, once thinking comes to an end!!!

The value of life only exists because you separate life from death, whereas they are part of one cycle which may never stop. You "the ego" wants to secure the future, to avoid facing the unknown in the present time. Frustration in life comes from an internal separation: a gap that develops due to perceiving reality versus imagining how reality should be according to ones experiences.

All things in the universe run on cycles! Even the universe has a cycle.

You want life to matter, but your ego is made of experience from the past (your memories). Memories are dead things, snapshots like photographs.

Living is movement, so when you as an ego hog the attention of your mind, actuality is pushed aside in favor of using that energy to network dead images together to form opinions. Opinions and actuality are not related.

You want to live or do you want to understand how to live?

I don't know if I'm getting across what I mean.

Our ego's are not living, any more than the information we store on our dictaphones or diaries is alive.

Perhaps this quote will help.

"People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life... I think that what we're really seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our innermost being and reality, so that we can actually feel the rapture of being alive." - Joseph Campbell

You should just make the most of what you have now

Do you want to lead a terrible life?

Agreed. Without meaning in your life you are just another

consumer, who is doing little more than contributing to the exploitation, pollution and exhaustion of the earth's resources.

Why not give some meaning to your existance and find your true life purpose, by being born-again as your spirit-being and get your relationship right with the Ruler of the Univese; help fight to bring some true justice into this insane world and live for ever instead?

http://bornagainfreeman.ning.com/