By: Olif Yoseph

Have you ever felt like you are overthinking something to the point where you just said, “Ugh, this is too much,” and then went about your day? Well, not me. I often spend my time overthinking anything. And when I say anything, I mean everything. “Why can’t I seem to get any homework done?” “Why is my earliest memory from a preschool on University Ave. 14 years ago?” “Am I going to have chicken and rice for dinner or is it gonna be jalapeño wontons from that Vietnamese place, also on University?” And the list goes on and on and on.

Well, for me, answering that never-ending question has become my life’s mission. Some might call it their “meaning” or “purpose” in this life. And I say “this” life for a reason, but that is a conversation for another day.

Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer has this to say to slightly ease my sea of thoughts. Most people call it their brain, but I think that’s a little boring:

“Since a man does not alter and his moral character remains absolutely the same all through his life; since he must play out the part which he has received, without the least deviation from the character; since neither experience, nor philosophy, nor religion can affect any improvement in him, the question arises, What is the meaning of life at all?” —Arthur Schopenhauer

I take this as another way of saying, screw being selfish. Whenever we have to make decisions, there is always a way we can turn it to make it benefit ourselves. That is what this world feeds on. That is what leads to persecution, death, famine, segregation, oppression and every other evil in the world. We have to learn to ignore that side of us, choosing the outcome that benefits all, because deep down, everyone is truly good. We just all grow up in different ways.

Another deep thinker that has an interesting way of life is Martin Heidegger, who began his vocation as a philosopher around the 1910s. He gives two different answers—the “early Heidegger” and “later Heidegger”—but we’ll just focus on the earlier one for now. The “early Heidegger” says to live life with authenticity. Another way of saying this is to live life with intuitiveness. All those micro-decisions that zip through your mind in an instant should only be that, an instant. Don’t think too hard about what socks you want to wear or if you have enough gas in your tank right now. Chances are, you do have enough gas, or else you wouldn’t be worrying about it in the first place.

These choices that may seem hard to overcome at the moment are minuscule when it comes to the big things in life. Trust your gut, and when you feel like your choices have led you astray, take in that awareness and improve for the future. Because we are all human, and reaching perfection is impossible. The best thing we can do for ourselves and others is to strive for that perfection, making improvement on top of improvement.

All in all, life is meaningless and we all die for nothing. No, I’m just joking, of course. But in all seriousness, finding a way to discover this “meaning of life” that everyone is so desperately seeking—whether consciously or subconsciously—is a tough way to live. So let life guide you down your own personal yellow brick road and sit back and relax, because it only happens once.