A short spoken reflection presenting a two-question test to determine whether a lack of meaning is a crisis: (1) 'Why am I alive?' and (2) 'For what would I give my life?'. The speaker explains how to answer the first by considering origin (chance or a creator) and the second by articulating a personal mission or life-purpose (a mission statement).
I have a test for meaning that I give people to see whether meaning is a crisis in your life. And it's a two question exam. And a way that you pass is by having answers. And the way that you fail is by not having answers. Which by the way is also good news if you fail, because then you know what to go looking for, which is not the meaning of life, but the answers to these two questions. Here they are. Question number one, why am I alive? You need to have an answer. It's not my answer, it's your answer. And number two, for what would I give my life? For what would I die happily right now? And the first one can be really tricky for people. How do I find the reasons that I'm alive? Well, there's actually two ways to answer the why am I alive? Question. Who created me? Or how was I created? And the second is what am I here to do? And look for the answers to those two questions. It might be random occurrences in the universe is how I was created. It might be God created me in his infinite wisdom and judgment and compassion or something. But whatever your belief is, that will help. And then the second part is, what am I here to do? What am I here to do? That's super heavy because that's how you write your mission statement in life. And once you head down that road, that why am I alive? Is going to start to come alive in your life.
