The question regarding the meaning of life has been asked for more than twenty-five centuries. To answer this and other questions, namely about the origin, destination and end of life, that is: "Who are we and where are we heading?", is perhaps the greatest stimulus so that the human being continues to investigate and use all resources at his disposal, to try to get closer to answers that are as true as possible to those questions.

The mystery of life, and also of death, be it of the spirit, be it of the mind, of the consciousness, of the soul; within the metaphysical perspective, which involves the intangible dimension of the human being; has been feeding imagination, creativity, research, experiences and technologies.

Admittedly, life sciences specifically: such as neurology, genetics, biology and medicine, among others, have achieved breakthroughs and spectacular results. However, they seem to be far from the discovery regarding knowledge of the totality of the human being, the person in its entirety, consisting of a physical and an intangible part.

However, it is important to reflect upon the best use of life, be it in its physical aspect, be it as to the mental faculties and particularly with regard to the ethical-moral activity, under the control of consciousness whilst a real and fair tribunal of acts that each individual will be practicing throughout their lives, and which can help to find and clarify a meaning for life.

First, however, it will be of interest to find out what each person is before themselves: how does each one evaluate themselves, how can they improve, or at least minimize the aspects considered negative in the face of a set of values, principles, social-juridical rules, traditions, usages and customs of the community of which one is a part of.The millennia Socratic maxim “know thyself" has never have been so updated as in these times of uncertainties, difficulties, of some "non-meaning" of life. Each person is therefore responsible: firstly, for the search and effort in really knowing himself; then, for the elaboration of strategies, methods and resources to enable himself to draw up his life project, which in its turn will clarify, in a more objective manner, the real meaning one wants to provide for ones’ life: material sense; metaphysical sense. 

One must know what one wants from life and from the world - Admitting that: “the real opportunities to gain a meaning of life are within ourselves, and not in a profession or specific situation, and that they can be conquered if we recognize that the best way to get to the top is arriving first to the bottom of things. (…) What lies behind us and what is in front of us have little importance compared to what lies within us.” (POLE, 1998: 12; apud, Ralph Waldo Emerson).

Within the perspective of some minds, it could be considered utopian if one only recognizes the spiritual or metaphysical aspect, because human beings just like any other animal or vegetable, lack resources to live physically.

To try, for example, to find happiness, whatever its concept may be, by developing the most noble and altruistic feelings that are inside each and every one, in order to live with them biologically and combine the two strands, material and spiritual, is essential to life and thus probably will obtain results that give meaning to a life truly worthy of the superior condition of human beings.

The meaning that each one intends to give to their own life involves knowledge, knowing what you want out of life, from society and from the world. Living thus becomes a true profession, an art, with the prospect of a decent, comfortable life in all essential and possible aspects.

On the contrary, will it be worthy of the human person to lead a life of material misery, characterized by hunger, disease and housing without minimal conditions of hygiene, safety, comfort and privacy, difficulty in access to education, unemployment, even if one allegedly  invokes some kind of happiness?

To live in the 21^st century, anywhere in the world and under the conditions mentioned in the preceding paragraph, will not  be compatible with the values of dignity, of happiness which is here considered as a real feeling of overall well-being, equality, fraternity and solidarity. It is true that many people have not had the ability, understanding, help, luck (for anyone who believes in the variable luck) to enjoy a decent life. 

To live in these new times is a challenge –It is urgent to awaken the world and consciences through the various and numerous people who have some responsibility to do so: from politics to religion; from economy to the business community; from the institutions and other organizational forms of society, also through the effort of each one, to this new profession – to live – considering that: "The majority of people who live in developed countries have only had a relative short time to be able to afford to reflect on the art of living. Our ancestors were too busy with the daily struggle for survival. That was their purpose in life, as still is to a large part of the world's population. Firstly we need food and water. Then we need protection against predators and against other people. Then we need to feel that we belong to a group.And from that moment on we need to feel valued by it. We can only think about ourselves and our personal achievement when these needs are satisfied.”To devise and to implement a meaning to life comes precisely through the satisfaction of all those needs and, eventually, of other needs, which involves a large field of knowledge, practices and availabilities, as much as diverse as specific. To live in these new times, filled with requests, demands that which go beyond those needs and which enter in the daily life of individuals by virtue of powerful advertising media, is a challenge for each person, and for humanity in general.

To think solely in the spiritual dimension and prepare oneself for an eternal life is certainly very important, especially within the perspective of those who believe in another life that is free from earthly materiality. However the believer can better prepare himself for this otherworldly existence, if he or she takes good care of their physical, corporeal part, even because in a body the possibilities of a sound mind are much larger, therefore cognitive outcomes will be benefited. To neglect material comfort and health of the body may be contradictory to the ultimate meaning of life, which believers want to live in an eternal reality. 

It is incumbent upon man to direct the driving forces he has aroused - This new century, which started a few years ago, has inherited some conflicts from the previous one, and the gravest ones, among others, are: regional fratricidal wars, misery in various situations - illiteracy, malnutrition, unemployment, growing inequalities between individuals, peoples and nations, social exclusion , degradation of the natural environment.

Man has not been able, either by omission or by covertly shameful intentions, to resolve those degrading situations, with the condition that at the particular perspective: "The world today has become both powerful and weak, capable of the best and worse, having patently before it the path of freedom or servitude, of progress and decline, brotherhood and hatred. And man becomes aware that it is incumbent upon him driving forces that he has aroused, and that that can serve him or crush him. So that is why man wonders to himself." (Second Vatican Council, 1966:13).

Despite many difficulties, complex situations and some issues which are unlikely to be answered, still, there are conditions to win most of the current crisis, to solve many problems - some of material order, others of direct responsibility of man – which continue to plague mankind.  The search for the meaning in life, necessarily involves the relentless pursuit of normalization of better living conditions, equally for all people, whatever their nationality, status and goals.

The imaginative and creative capacity of man is an asset that probably no other being possesses. There are thus good reasons for cautious optimism in the sense that humanity will know how to overcome all the difficulties, crises, obstacles and more unpredictable and difficult situations.

One of the human faculties will be embodied, for example, in faith, not only in its religious sense, but as hope for better times, that is, faith in the determination to solve problems, however difficult they may apparently seem. 

The true meaning of the word hope - Actually: "The lack of faith prevents many people from getting any significant achievement in their lives. Faith, while a positive energy, brings to the physical reality that which we hope for but which still remains invisible. In this context, it is useful to remember that the true meaning of the word hope is not a vague and undefined desire, but a joyful expectation.” "(POLE, 1998:92-93).

It is based on the higher faculties of the human person that one can believe in a better future, which becomes, of course, as every one having material conditions to give meaning to their own life, adopting to this end, behaviour that is productive, in order to meet the needs of all; ethical-moral, based on values which not only of modern times but as well as the all-time, although it is necessary to reinterpret them, readapt them to take them correctly in new contexts.

To deny man the possibilities to exercise their rights and fulfil their duties corresponds to derailing his life plan, is to deny him the opportunity to give meaning to his life, even if that meaning is only at the level of spirituality.

Whatever the concept of "Meaning of Life" may be, it seems appropriate to give a vote of confidence in man, either as an individual, as well as all groups that responsibly are committed to building a new and better world for a humanity thirsty for peace, welfare, safety, stability and for achievable goals and projects for life.This new and better world, whose construction one intends to encourage, will involve in its development, not only spirituality but also any possible materiality, to achieve the ambitions and dreams of the person, because: "You are compelled all the time to win more and more - more money, more power, more happiness, more success"  (Ibid: cover). 

Sources: 

Second Vatican Council, 1966. Pastoral Constitution Vatican II on the Church in Today's World. 2^nd edition. São Paulo: Edições Paulinas.

GREENER, Mark, (2004).Time for Everything. Organization and Personnel Management. Translator Alexandra Lemos, review and technical adaptation: Osvaldo Santos, psychotherapist, 1st English edition, December/2004, Lisbon: Edideco, Editor for Consumer Protection.

POLE, Timothy, (1998). Be you. Translator Arlete Dialetachi. Sao Paulo: Editora Creek, Ltd

SELECTION OF TEXTS (2000). "Education in the Area of ​​Human Rights," in Noesis. Lisbon: Institute for Educational Innovation - Ministry of Education, (56), October-December-2000, pages 18-21.