part 1
all my life, i read a lot of books, texts, information, about such things as philosophy, religion, politics, and more, and tried to explore the topics expressed in these as much as i can.
and also tried to put these things "into action" and did a lot of stuff and experiments in the "real world", too.
and, in my opinion, i came across some interesting things then, and actually ran across some interesting - let's call it "information" instead of truths. (i don't say this to "flatter" myself - but to give a bit of a background to this text)
now, i don't claim to know or understand the meaning of life. or have some knowledge that explains "everything at the end of all things".
but, i can tell you about a concept that might be interesting to you, and i'm certain that it would allow you to attain many of the things you want to attain, and to understand many of the things that you want to understand.
and, maybe, to find your own meaning of life, too.
this idea, concept, "truth" is a bit hard to explain and to write down, though.
so, in order to explain it, i will use some words that i just heard in a movie i watched recently. it actually came off as a bit of a cheap movie, but, in my opinion, the words are useful nonetheless. (i could have used other words to a similar effect, but i chose these ones).
the statement is "our biggest weaknesses are actually our biggest strengths".
and this is very true and right and correct!
everything you consider a weakness about yourself is actually one of your biggest strengths.
everything you consider weak, bad, ugly, unlikable, detestable, rejectable is actually beautiful, wonderful, powerful, bold, glorious and brilliant.
everything you want to get rid of about yourself might save you one day.
everything you want to "fix" about yourself is something that might heal you one day.
you are not broken. you are not flawed. you are not wrong.
you are perfect, beautiful, and one hundred percent right and true the way you are, right here, in this moment.
you don't need to change anything about yourself. you are perfect. you just may not see this in this moment.
embrace your weakness, embrace your flaws.
do you consider yourself ugly, chubby, unattractive? embrace it!
do you consider yourself sad, anxious, depressed? embrace it!
and if you do this, if you embrace and love yourself, one hundred percent, with everything you considered bad and flawed, with everything you considered to be a weakness - you might break out of the prison you confined yourself to.
and you might discover some very interesting things. attain some very interesting goals. and find happiness, joy, ecstasy, of the type that is out of the ordinary.
how would this work out, and why? well, that is a bit harder to explain. but for now, have some good faith and try it. you might be surprised by the result.
and remember: you are beautiful, extraordinary, and perfect. every part of you is.
part 2
what i originally wrote might be a bit "hard to believe" without a real, good explanation. but, these matters are complicated, it's hard to explain, thus i will give no explanation right here. but i will offer some proof, and hope that this "proof" might convince you a bit.
the claim was: your "flaws", "weaknesses", are actually something wonderful and perfect.
"how could this be? it can't be true." you might say. and add "it's irrational and against logic, no one would believe this".
well, are you so sure about that?
let's look at society, history, culture. let's start with crime stories. the great detectives.
how about sherlock holmes?
one of the most brilliant minds ever. goes out of this way to apprehend dangerous criminals, and saved many a life of their innocent victims. is neither motivated by fame nor money.
a shiny, moral hero, right?
but, if you read the books: also an arrogant prick. a weirdo eccentric. narcissist. addicted to cocaine and maybe other substances. borders on sociopath without empathy. puts his life, that of Watson and others at risk. at times uses crime, burglary, blackmail, and other "dark" methods to foil his enemies.
so, what do we make of this? is he actually unlikable because of this?
no. it's actually these "flaws" that made this fictional character such a legend, that made his readers idolize him.
you don't believe this? well, every good writer knew about this concept, or at least emotionally grasped it, and made sure to add major "flaws" to their own fictional crime investigators:
hercule poirot with his inflated ego, and also borderline eccentry, his unhealthy appetite for sweet food and such.
"detective colombo" is a man who runs around in dirty clothes, could need both a shave and a haircut, and ruins his own health with his smoking habits - and is a "major asshole" with the conversation techniques he uses on his suspects (and others) - the whole "just one more thing" schtick and all.
and this is what makes readers and viewers adore these fictional personality.
if it happens that in a book, or movie, a fighter for truth and justice is introduced, who is indeed to close to perfection, without major flaws - always on duty, always moral, always disciplined, always "good" - the audience will inevitably scream: 'unbearable, dull, bland - we hate it'.
and please be sure that this is not some random observation, but a major truth is hidden here - that your own "flaws" are the strongest and most important parts of your personality, too!
you can also look at things in "real life", outside of books, movies and other fiction.
pop stars, rock stars, actors, celebrities, and other "heroes" of our culture and society had major flaws, dysfunctions, a vital lack of a "normal" personality and behavior. (note: i'm not talking about celebrities here that dabbled in sexism, racism, homophobia. and such things. this is a wholly different matter and and this things should be truly rejected, detested, and punished).
and this is what people love about them! this is what people adore about them. we want no clean, perfect cultural heroes that border on fascism and authoritarianism.
just think of your own favorite music idols (or those you had in your teens) and their flaws, and how much you *adored* these flaws. was your idol shy? a social misfit? maybe they had a scar? whatever flaw they had, i know that this was one of the things you worshiped most about them.
i'll give you more examples:
being a shy nerd can be considered a flaw. no one likes nerds, right?
now imagine, a new scifi blockbuster is made. and one of the main characters is a shy and nerdy young adult of whatever gender. now, do you supposed that people will go and say, "could have been a great movie. but there was a shy and nerdy person in it".
no, people will flock to the movie and love that character - because, that what is usually considered a weakness, is actually a great strength.
i could continue this list of examples on and on, but i think, by now you get the point.
just ask yourself that questions: if you read books, comics, or watched movies with characters that have such "flaws" such as being shy, being overweight, ugly, anxious, awkward, depressed, being misfits, and you loved them either way, and you loved them *because they had these flaws* - why shouldn't you love yourself too, even if you have similar flaws - why do you not love yourself *because of the 'flaws' you have*?
well. you should!
part 3
now that i provided "proof", i will actually do an attempt at an explanation. a fragmented, prototype explanation.
the idea is that everybody is perfect, infinitely beautiful, good, true, and right.
and, with the knowledge of this, able to attain the most extraordinary things, and to attain feelings of pleasure and serenity beyond one's own imagination.
but, now, there arise social, political, cultural, religious authorities.
and they say: "no no no. people are not perfect. to the contrary, they're all evil, they are all sinners, they're damned to hell."
so, a major religion might say: humans have sensual desires, and this is evil, and they're sinners when they have sensual thought, and they need to fix this and to overcome this in order to be saved!
but, the truth is that sensuality can be a wonderful thing, a pure and beautiful thing. it's not a flaw to have sensual desires, because these sensual desires can be a key to paradise!
so, this human "weakness" is actually a strength.
a political authority might say:
"some humans are not willing to fight in our wars. they're cowards and anxious and betray our patriotism and nationalism! if these people do not change, they will remain flawed, and become social filth."
now, the truth is that war is cruel, unjust and pure hell, and to refuse to go to a foreign country and slay innocent people and their children, that have done you no wrong, does not mean you are a coward. it means you are a hero.
or a cultural authority (like the press, celebrities...) might say:
"humans can only be considered beautiful when the fit to our cultural medial concept of beauty, that is attained by surgery, excessive make up, imagine manipulation, and a self-destructive diet and work out regiment. people who do not look like this and are maybe chubby, have scars, "bad" skin, small breasts, large noses, crooked teeth, are not beautiful, they are flawed and should be societally rejected"
the actual truth is that every human is inherently beautiful, and there is a true beauty to human bodies that are just like human bodies are, without strange surgeries and manipulation, and the media doesn't recognize this.
so, "these ugly flaws" are beautiful strengths, again!
i can give more examples like that. political authorities might say, people are lazy, because they do not want to "work their ass off" to secure the wealth of the rich. or a social authority might say that people should behave "bold and strong" and hide their emotions and not cry or act "weak".
or society, culture and politics as a whole might say that individualism is very dangerous, and every one should fit in to "their group".
all these are "flaws" that are considered dangerous by various authorities. but actually, these are not flaws at all.
they are powerful strengths.
in the whole history of mankind, the various authorities, no matter if of religious, social, political, or other origins, always liked to spread the "idea" that humans are dangerously flawed, and have parts of them that are flawed, broken, damnable.
because then they would need to be fixed. and who is providing the "fix"? the authorities of course! they will say "do you have 'sensual thoughts'? run to your church and confess and pray, and maybe they will go away! and always follow the rules of the church and its leaders."
or they say "is your body 'flawed'? come to us! we offer a lot of products and fixes. they are very expensive and dangerous to your health, but do not worry, because we will take all your flaws away if you follow us!"
that's the whole "selling idea" of authority! 'humans are flawed and evil, and only authority could "fix" people or at least keep their flaws in check, so people should follow and obey authority!'
variations of this "theme" have been repeated by religions, cultures, political organisation through all human history.
but do not believe them. defy authority!
part 4
this was a little attempt at an explanation.
but you might say, that this leaves some of the original claims open to answers:
claims such as that one could get closer to "the meaning of life" by doing this. that one can find interesting insights because of this. and achieve wondrous things because of this.
yes, i indeed think a lot of good things will happen if you follow this way.
because, essentially, if you think you are "flawed", if you worry about your weaknesses, and especially, if you constantly try hard to "fix" and change yourself, you are constantly and permanently blocking all your creativity, abilities, strength, energy - you are blocking yourself, your true self. you are are standing in your own way, cant move forward, and can't move anywhere.
and this forever keeps you from unleashing your true potential, and from doing and achieving the marvelous things you can achieve, and from feeling the emotions and joy that you can potentially feel.
do not do this!
you keep yourself busy by trying to block or get rid of your flaws, but you can't, because no matter how hard you fight, they always come back. since they are "hardwired" to you and your personality, because they should not go away, since they are actually - pure strength.
and by fighting this fight, you are wasting all your energy, can't do anything meaningful anymore, and end up feeling miserable.
and you not only throw all your energy away. you are blocking things which you consider "flaws" that in true reality are strengths, talents, abilities, intuition, untapped resources of meaning, brilliance and creativity.
so your true talent and potential never comes through.
it's more complex than that - all parts and things i mentioned here are way more complex than that, and these ideas could fill whole libraries, in my opinion. but we will leave it this way for now. i hope these sentences, however fragmentary and "shortened" they are, inspired you in some way; and feel free to explore these themes further. and i hope you can accept yourself as you are, and see how beautiful you truly are, in every aspect of yourself, your mind, your body, and everything else about you.
so, to come to a summary to all of this:
my idea is that the meaning of life more or less is to *just be who you are*. do not try to fix yourself. you are not broken.
and if you be who you are, your own, real, beautiful true self, then everything else will follow. very wonderful things will follow. i truly believe that.
