A popular world view … "Life is a gift! Enjoy it!
A not so popular world view … “My life has a purpose, I want to find it and get on with it … forget about joy!”
Wendy … while reflecting on EC_DC’s comment … "We are programmed to live" … my mind was looking for the words to articulate the distinction between “to live” and “to exist”.
Thank you for providing the answer. 
You just said “life is useless”.
What gives? Why are you hanging around?
pilgrim-seeker_tom
You can call me Aaron.
Forget my horrible programmed comment.
We are here to live - to me that is the meaning of life - what we choose to do to give ourselves purpose can be difficult.
I feel I have no real purpose on top of being a person - so I choose to be the best person I can be.
I feel we are social - so I be social.
Don’t let my comments stumble you - if it is just reflection then so be it.
I guess a good distinction would be: Make your life full - live life to the fullest.
I think in many ways you are already doing that.
To niggle you 
… one good turn deserves another … quid pro quo
Aaron … I like that name 
Background
Just read some comments authored by eaglerising … paraphrasing … and perhaps not accurately … "thoughts are fragmented and they don’t know each other exists"
While eaglerising’s comments were placed in the context of the human species I prefer the context of “ALL” … some people believe plants respond to music … dengarden.com/gardening/the-eff … ant-growth
… some people believe water responds to human thought(s) … youtube.com/watch?v=k1-0ulKgmio
Back to eaglerising’s comments … in the context of human thought for the moment.
Fragmented thoughts … thoughts that don’t know each other exist … form clusters when expressed by one human being and encountered by another independent human being … when the thought cluster reaches critical mass it is manifested in our physical reality.
Now on to your comments:
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no need to forget it … the only comment that ‘stuck’ was “we are programmed to live” … the others passed too quickly to notice.
We are here to live - to me that is the meaning of life - what we choose to do to give ourselves purpose can be difficult.
for me … rightly or wrongly … we do not have the opportunity to give ourselves purpose … we all have purpose … individual and unique … our only choice is to discover it … or not.
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From time to time I found some of your comments uplifting … the remainder “simply wind” and these days it takes a pretty strong wind to make me stumble.
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For me … the distinction is … live life for the “other” … embrace selflessness rather than simply tolerate it.
pilgrim-seeker_tom
And so, I be social - I too embrace selflessness.
This brings a tear to my minds eye . . . I find Arcturus Descending and yourself to be the two on this forum in keeping me cheerful.
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And so, I be social -
Aaron … how did you know I wanted to add an addendum to my previous post? An after thought so to speak.
Complete individuation can not be achieved in the crowd … aka … being social.
tom a guru aficionado wrote
Amen. Why is this so repugnant to most folks?
ec_dc (Aaron) wrote
I’d say Arc and tom are more thoughtful, less confrontational than most. Sorry about giving you the blues, my methods of shutting down B.S. can be caustic. I’ll try to be more sensitive when I address you…promise. 
Pilgrim wrote:
I think it is more of a case that we are all trying to make sense of this world.
Phylla – Life is what you make it. just as you are what you eat, the same applies to what you consume mentally, emotionally, and physically. You aren’t aware of all the information, knowledge, and experiences that are contained within your perception until something opposes, challenges, or conflicts with them. Your feelings and emotions make you aware of that conflict. In turn, you feel upset angry, confused, troubled, or even as if you are being attacked. When that happens, it is a good time to take a serious look at your perception as opposed to automatically defending it, dismissing, or rejecting what is taking place.
If you want to have a better life, take the time to examine your perception. See what you are holding on to that is preventing you from enjoying life.
It’s possible to set up your perceptions so that they insulate you from the world. IOW, you can create a fantasy world where you are happy.
But is that a good thing to do?
I think it might be a necessary thing to do, and I think that all of us do this throughout life. Any interpretation of existence that isn’t completely and utterly neutral, is an interpretation that is serving this or that affect or drive.
Illusion is necessary, but some illusions are better than others.
SM … perhaps only a tiny fraction of the human family is “trying to make sense of this world” … those few people who feel the vibrations of the tectonic shifts occurring in our lifetime.
The sentiments you expressed in your previous post eloquently paint the ‘portrait’ of the individuals in this small community.
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The ‘abyss’ you mention is the ‘unknown’ … the ‘darkness’ … the ‘unfamiliar’ … the ‘unwelcome’.
The prevailing world view is ossified in human consciousness … inertia has set in. The increasing turbulence in human activities … political, economic, religious and so on … is the fruit of the tectonic shifts … not the root.
I like the picture Ruth Barrows paints with words:
“Surrender and abandonment are like a deep, inviting, frightening ocean into which we are drawn. We make excursions into it to test it, to see whether it’s safe, to enjoy the sensation of it. But for all kinds of reasons, we always go back to dry land, to solid ground, to where we are safe. But the ocean beckons us out anew and we risk again being afloat in something bigger than ourselves. And we keep doing that, wading in and then going back to safety, until one day, when we are ready, we just let the waters carry us away.”
Two things are important:
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Offer no resistance … attempt to ride the ‘waves’.
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Make no attempt to get ahead of the world. (Lao Tzu)
More likely … almost everyone is trying to make sense of the world but there are many different approaches and many conclusions.
If you discover what makes you uniquely different from the other 7.5 billion people on earth and develop it, you will be rewarded far more than you can possibly imagine. The beauty about this is that you love doing what makes you uniquely different. And because you love doing it, you do it most of the time so you get really good at it. And if it benefits others and they want it, they compensate you for it.
What’s the best way to be compensated?
Wendy_Darling, Why do you ask questions that you can answer yourself?
I could be mistaken, so I like to gather the opinions of others who may have uncovered an idea that I have not that would be the better.
So what is the best way for you to be compensated?