None of us are ever more than one heartbeat removed from death. We all come into this world with a bomb built into us. The fuse of this bomb was lit roughly when the doctor held us up by the heels and spanked our little bum. The only life we know is accompanied by the sound of this fuse burning in the background.
ââŹÂThe hour that gives us life begins to take it away.ââŹÂ Seneca
I doubt that itââŹâ˘s possible for a man to lie to himself. The notion of a lie includes a negative ethical qualification. IââŹâ˘m of the opinion that Ethics arise with relationships between at least two persons. A man stranded for the rest of his life on a deserted island might safely burn his books about Ballroom Dancing and Ethics.
Of course we all suffer from various delusions; some turn out to be to our advantage, others to our disadvantage. For example, we unconsciously delude ourselves in thinking that we donââŹâ˘t have a large ââŹĹblind spotââŹÂ in front of each of our eyes. This delusion is to our advantage. On the other hand, we consciously delude ourselves in constructing an economy based upon the concept of endless growth. I fear this delusion will ultimately be to our disadvantage.
IââŹâ˘ve two different understandings of the word ââŹĹmeaning.ââŹÂ When one thing exists for the sake of some other thing, one thing is said to have an extrinsic meaning for the other. Hereâs a well known example:
ââŹÂFor the want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.ââŹÂ
ItââŹâ˘s possible for a normally insignificant nail to have a great extrinsic meaning. The same could be said of the defective metal nut on the stabilizer jackshaft of the Alaskan Airlines jet which crashed a few years ago. The wear on this small part held a great meaning to the scores of people on that aircraft. As it happened, it meant that they were going to die in a crash.
The other notion of meaning has to do with what we think of as having an intrinsic meaning, or meaning for itself. My happiness intrinsically has meaning to me. I value it for itself, rather than as a means to a further end. My happiness is the end. Love is another example of that which is often intrinsically meaningful.
What is the meaning of my life? This is a self-referential question. Here, something is asking a question about itself. We know from logic and set-theory that self-referential questions have a propensity to lead us into paradoxical conclusions. So we have to be careful with such questions, else the snake ends up by eating itââŹâ˘s tail.
Are you content to think that your meaning in this world is only extrinsic? We think of trees as having value partly because they absorb greenhouse gases. Would you be content that your meaning of life is primarily to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, and thus help complete the great carbon ââŹâ oxygen cycle of the planet? Most of us have responsibilities in this life. We have families, for example, that depend upon us much as the airline passengers depended on that nut on the stabilizer jackshaft. I suspect this is enough for some people. In such case the question for them is answered. Such people commonly are content to live for their children or to care for their cat, etc.
However, some people, myself included, arenât fully satisfied with an extrinsic meaning of life. If I died today, only a few people would grieve, but in time even they would get over my loss and go on with their lives. ItââŹâ˘s a sobering thought to realize that my life is in no way indispensable to this world. That the collection of atoms that presently constitute my body should suddenly be blown apart into a diffuse cloud across the far reaches of the earth, would mean as little to the universe as if a pool of water should evaporate on a sunny afternoon. I simply donââŹâ˘t much matter to the world.
Seneca wroteââŹÂ
ââŹÂThere are times when even to live is an act of bravery.ââŹÂ
Yes, and furthermore I say:
Every subsequent breath I choose to take is a reassertion of my own intrinsic meaning. I affirm the meaning of my life with my very life itself.
Sartre said as much, though more eloquently:
ââŹÂMan isââŹÂŚnothing else than the ensemble of his acts, nothing else than his life. Reality alone is what counts: dreams, expectations, and hopes warrant no more than to define a man as a disappointed dream, as miscarried hopes, as vain expectations.ââŹÂ
I alone give my life its ultimate value. It is as great or as worthless as I choose to make it. I do more than simply ask for the meaning of my life; I provide that meaning to my life. I am not the snake that eats its tail. I am the man that lifts himself up by his own bootstraps. Of course, this is an impossibility, isnââŹâ˘t it? Life is that impossibility to which we daily thumb our nose.
ââŹÂThe important thing is to pull yourself up by your own hair, to turn yourself inside out and see the world with fresh eyesââŹÂ Marat
Michael
I never said that we are supposed to 
