¿Cuál es el sentido de la vida? Consejos para encontrar tu propósito
¿Qué sentido tiene la vida?
Or a slightly more unsettling version: What’s the point of life if we’re going to die?
¿Alguna vez has tenido ese momento en la vida en el que te has despertado y te has hecho esta pregunta?
Suele ocurrir cuando la vida se pone difícil. Algunas personas se inclinan por naturaleza a pensar en el sentido de la vida, mientras que otras sólo piensan en él cuando se enfrentan a momentos que les cambian la vida.
Either way, I’m almost certain that everyone has thought about it at some point.
It’s a difficult question with no easy answer but that’s why it’s even more important to search for it – so that’s what I did. After some thorough thinking this is the best I could come up with:
El sentido de la vida es llenarla de objetivos. Cuando tenemos un propósito, tenemos una razón para vivir, lo que hace que vivir sea lo más importante.
I hope this is making sense to you but if it doesn’t, let me explain.
Human beings come to this world as small helpless creatures emerging from the safest place imaginable – a mother’s womb.
Imagina que nos arrebatan ese espacio suave, cálido y autosuficiente que habitamos durante nueve meses enteros.
All of a sudden we’re pulled out of it into the cold and sterile hospital building with weird noises and blinding lights.
When you think about it that way it definitely explains why babies cry when they’re being born, doesn’t it?
But did you ever think about how weird and almost fallible it is that you don’t remember that moment at all?
The fact that you don’t remember the part of su vida que ya has experimentado?
Personalmente, me parece raro que empecemos a recordar nuestra vida a partir de un punto en el tiempo y el resto sea un caos nebuloso.
It’s even weirder that almost all of our memories are an altered reality, but that’s another story.
Esta introducción se hizo para decir esto: Los bebés son criaturas conscientes sin conocimiento de sí mismas.
Están empapados de realidad sin reglas. Tabula rasa. Sólo más tarde en la vida se les imponen reglas.
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Eso me hace preguntarme qué somos sin las reglas del mundo exterior, ya que partimos de un mundo interior.
¿Qué le ocurre a la conciencia humana cuando lo externo y lo interno chocan? ¿Es eso lo que llamamos vida?
Si es así, ¿cuál es el sentido de la vida?
I’m no philosopher nor theologist but I am a curious human being and I feel like that gives me the right to speak on this matter.
I’ve dabbled a little in religion, different philosophies like existentialism, even nihilism, and anything else that grabbed my attention but none of them gave me an answer I was looking for.
Todo ello me llevó a la siguiente conclusión: There’s no universal answer because experiences are individual.
The purpose of life is individual. Finding meaning is closely attached to what we think meaningful life is. For one person it’s their loved ones, for another it’s attaining wealth.
It’s not surprising we so often don’t understand each other when life’s meaning depends on the circumstances of our lives that we’re living in the physical world but that we’re processing internally as no one can really see what’s inside another person’s mind.
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In words of Anaïs Nin: “There is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.”
Ahora mismo hay 7.800 millones de personas en la Tierra, lo que significa 7.800 millones de experiencias diferentes.
The fact that we’re now more than ever exposed to seeing the lives of others doesn’t help with the confusion.
We’re constantly bombarded with other people’s thoughts, habits, point of view, and what not and it’s not unusual to be confused about your own purpose or even mistake it for someone else’s.
In fact, seeing someone else doing supposedly well in life often makes us feel like we’re falling behind and that’s just what makes things worse.
Do I even need to mention how that’s usually done through painfully staged content on social media?
Life in the 21st century is hectic. It’s much more hectic than it was in centuries gone by and I’m afraid to think what will happen to future generations.
There’s an obsession for meaning and alarming meaninglessness at the same time, and that’s what leads me to the next question:
¿Pensar en el propósito nos aleja del propósito?
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” – Albert Camus
En mi humilde opinión, suele ser así.
If anything, we know we’re, generally speaking – limited.
We’re not physically equipped to survive on our own like most animals and we’re not smart enough or either spiritually or technologically advanced enough to grasp that something we’re always striving for, that something beyond the reason and senses.
Lo único que tenemos es la razón y la fe. Incluso las personas no religiosas necesitan tener fe para levantarse por la mañana y seguir adelante con su día.
It doesn’t have to be faith in the supernatural because it’s enough just to make plans for the future. That in itself is a sign of faith.
Sabiendo esto, buscar activamente el propósito con sólo pensando about it seems futile. It usually doesn’t lead to a better life but instead causes frustration.
It heightens pressure and makes you go into panic mode thinking you HAVE to do this and that in order to live a life worth living by someone else’s standards.
A riesgo de sonar demasiado metafísico, tengo que decir que listening to your inner being without obsessively thinking about life’s meaning es mucho más productivo.
It’s just about living life, experiencing trial and error, and pushing yourselves outside of your comfort zone.
There’s no magical thought that will change your life because life is lived by taking action and living in the present moment.
Relax, nobody knows what the heck they’re doing either
“Accepting the absurdity of everything around us is one step, a necessary experience: It should not become a dead end. It arouses a revolt that can become fruitful.” – Albert Camus
When you feel like you’re lost in life just think of this:
We’re four-limbed creatures that live on a giant ball filled with water that’s spinning in the middle of something we call espacio, where there’s not enough air to breathe or to scatter light, and sound can’t be transmitted yet it’s not empty.
It’s pretty bizarre.
What’s even more bizarre is the fact that we care about so many things while virtually knowing nothing about our own existence.
Yes, we have come a long way, science gives us explanations of how things work but we still don’t know why we exist in the first place.
There’s no manual for life. Everybody is – at the core – on their own.
Nobody knows what they’re doing.
I remember when it dawned on me that adults aren’t as knowledgeable about life as I thought they were.
In fact, it seems to me they’re faking adultness and just sort of winging it through life while pretending they have everything under control.
All of this can be terrifying or comforting, that’s up to you.
Creo que la vida humana es excepcional independientemente de su significado.
The world made us believe that there’s no point in life if we’re not doing something BIG, something that will change the world and people’s lives.
Ese algo es, por ejemplo, hacerse rico o famoso o alcanzar la iluminación espiritual.
La realidad es que la gente rara vez hace algo grande según las normas sociales.
Don’t get carried away with the ideas that you have to achieve something like that to fulfill your life purpose, because you don’t.
If stuff like that really was the meaning of life, 90% of people would be severely depressed. It’s okay to strive to achieve your goals but you shouldn’t mistake them for the meaning of life.
Brace yourself: Life’s full of ups and downs
“If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.” – Viktor Frankl
Life is a journey without a map. We’re blind to what’s in front of us.
Para atravesarlo con éxito, tenemos que aceptar las cosas malas del camino.
Las polaridades forman parte de la vida. Desde el principio de los tiempos, la gente ha hablado del bien y del mal, intentando describir todos los matices de la vida y extraer el significado de las cosas que les rodean.
When something bad happens we’re naturally inclined to start reexamining our life’s meaning.
Por ejemplo, muertes de nuestros seres queridos, enfermedades, rupturas y otras cosas que representan una pérdida de algo valioso que daba sentido a nuestra vida.
These things trigger our sense of self and our purpose in life. We’re faced with the loss of meaning and it’s hard to find it while we’re spiraling down the whirl of despair and loss.
La lucha nos hace buscar respuestas y a menudo buscamos soluciones en un propósito superior. Sin embargo, a veces ese propósito superior no es más que seguir viviendo día a día.
Things will change, they will improve, you’ll look back at them and know it all had to happen.
Don’t compare your life journey to others
“Uniqueness lies in not comparing oneself to others.” – Raheel Farooq
As I said earlier, it’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing your life to the lives of other people when we’re constantly looking at their lives.
Parece que algunos lo tienen fácil, mientras que otros lo tienen difícil.
La clave está en comprender que si algo tiene un aspecto determinado, it doesn’t mean it really is. Everyone is fighting their own battle.
Las personas más divertidas del mundo están deprimidas, las más pobres del mundo son las más felices.
Don’t compare yourself to others because your inner world isn’t the same as everyone else’s. Your personal journey is different to everyone else.
Comparar es como decir I’m never enough to ourselves. That’s simply not true. You’re enough as you are. You just need to accept that you’re not perfect and know that no one else is perfect either.
It’s great to take inspiration from other people and look for guidance in things they do and say, but the same things that work for them don’t have to work for you.
Don’t listen to others when it comes to decisions in your own life. They don’t know what you know about yourself.
People underestimate and overestimate each other all the time. They don’t have your experience, they don’t know what you’re capable of or what your purpose is.
El propósito es profundamente íntimo y personal.
If someone disagrees with the way you live your life – know that it has nothing to do with you as long you’re not endangering the lives of others.
Whatever they say is their opinion and nothing else. An opinion is not a fact. It’s just perspective and not the truth.
Letting go of the need for approval is hard for many people because that’s how we learn to gane amor aunque digan que el amor debe ser incondicional.
There’s no objective rating scale that allows another person to judge you. Nobody knows what you’ve been through.
Sin embargo, seguimos midiendo nuestra autoestima en función de la aprobación de los demás y eso nos hace profundamente infelices.
We can’t be happy if there’s always something unattainable we long for. We can’t be happy if we’re living for other people. Living life free of the need for approval is la clave del bienestar.
We don’t have to fulfill anyone’s expectations but our own. The moment we stop thinking about what others will think and start listening to what we want – things start to change.
Don’t let the careless word of others influence your whole mood. Don’t let it stress you.
Remember that you don’t have to explain yourself to others either. If they get you, that’s great, if they don’t, and you don’t feel comfortable explaining – just don’t do it.
Escucha tu intuición
“Practice listening to your intuition, your inner voice; ask questions; be curious; see what you see; hear what you hear, and then act upon what you know to be true. These intuitive powers were given to your soul at birth.” – Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Another reason why you shouldn’t listen to others is because you already have your inner guide. You have intuition.
Aprovéchalo.
To answer the question “¿qué sentido tiene la vida?” one must be connected to one’s inner being, which is revealed through intuition.
La intuición es lo que finalmente nos conducirá a nuestro propósito vital y despertar espiritual.
That’s why it’s so important. It’s what makes us authentic.
Autenticidad significa ser exactamente lo que somos. Significa cultivar la aceptación, la integridad, el valor y practicar la introspección; hacer las cosas con intención.
Durante mucho tiempo, la intuición se consideró exclusivamente pseudociencia.
Por suerte, estudios recientes demuestran que la intuición es un proceso psicológico real; el cerebro utiliza experiencias pasadas y señales del yo y de las cosas que le rodean para tomar una decisión.
The decision happens so fast that it doesn’t register on a conscious level. Our brains know the answer way before analytically processing information.
Pero, ¿cómo conectamos con nuestra intuición?
1. Parar y escuchar
It’s as simple as it sounds.
You can’t hear your intuition if you’re not listening. When you find yourself in a situation where you feel doubtful and need guidance – ask yourself: What do I really want? Track down that first hunch that occurred when something happened.
2. Confía en tu instinto
You know that feeling. You know when something is bad or good and you can feel it in your gut. It manifests on or in your body and it’s usually gut.
This too isn’t completely scientifically false considering the gut is lined with a network of nerve cells and is called el segundo cerebro.
That’s the same reason se nos revuelve el estómago cuando nos ponemos nerviosos.
3. Reconocer sus sentimientos
Cuanto más te entrenes para escuchar tu intuición, más la sentirás también de otras maneras. Cada uno tiene su propia forma de conociendo a falta de una palabra mejor.
Sometimes it’s a physical manifestation such as goosebumps, a racing heart, a feeling in your belly and just that conociendo that we can’t explain; you just feel if something is right or not.
Trusting your intuition might be hard at first but it’s a skill you can train and perfect and it’s definitely worth trying.
4. Aprender a dejar ir las emociones negativas
Negative emotions are necessary. However, we shouldn’t let them take over because they cloud our intuition. It’s more likely we’re going to do something intuitively right when we’re in a good mood.
Negative emotions can help us understand ourselves on a deeper level but that doesn’t mean we should dwell on them.
When we’re at peace with ourselves is when we’re more connected to our purpose so it’s easier to hear out intuition.
5. Elige bien a tus amigos
We already discussed how others affect our lives. It’s true that we have to mind our own business and listen to ourselves but other people are still a big part of our life.
Surround yourself with the people who won’t drain you or put you down.
You probably already met people who did nothing but that. It’s usually in a passive-aggressive way that gives you no visible reason you should confront them but they still manage to ruin your mood.
That’s not the kind of person you need in your life. Find people who uplift you and enrich your life with their presence, people who support your vision and believe in you.
6. Encuentra tiempo para ti
La soledad tiene un impacto positivo en el desarrollo de nuestra intuición. Nos permite despejar la mente de los pensamientos cotidianos y observarnos a nosotros mismos.
So many times we simply don’t hear our intuition because we’re too busy to notice. Part of strengthening your intuition is just letting your mind wander and being open to whatever comes your way. It can be feelings, thoughts, or something else.
Capta las pequeñas señales. Sé consciente. Despeja tu mente y deja espacio para algo nuevo.
7. Prestar atención a los sueños
This might sound weird but it’s the truth that dreams are a way of processing gathered data and are a door to our unconscious self.
We already said that intuition works on a subconscious level so paying attention to our dreams is a way of figuring out our personal inner symbolism and it’s meaning.
Dreams are deeply symbolical and that’s not a coincidence. It’s not a coincidence we often dream about the stuff we experienced the day before.
That’s why it’s good to set an intention for resolving issues we don’t have a solution for before going to sleep. Maybe your dreams can give you the answers your conscious mind can’t.
Uno de los psicoanalistas más famosos que han existido, Carl Jung, dijo lo siguiente sobre los sueños:
“Dreams are impartial, spontaneous products of the unconscious psyche, outside the control of the will. They are pure nature; they show us the unvarnished, natural truth, and are therefore fitted, as nothing else is, to give us back an attitude that accords with our basic human nature when our consciousness has strayed too far from its foundations and run into an impasse.“
Conecta con tu propósito
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
La forma más fácil de encontrar nuestro propósito es seguir nuestra pasión. La pasión es la forma definitiva de hacernos felices.
The problem with passion is that it’s usually not conventional, it’s not safe. It demands bravery and perseverance.
It’s often connected to something that makes us feel uncomfortable meaning we need to step out of our comfort zone to follow our passion, which will ultimately lead us to our life’s purpose.
It’s not the purpose itself, but it’s a way of finding it.
Passion can be literally anything. Sometimes we don’t even notice our passion as a passion because it comes to us so easily.
Ese tipo de cosas que se te ocurren con facilidad son las que tienes que cultivar en la vida.
Piensa en lo que te resulta más fácil y lo que más te gusta hacer. ¿Qué es lo que nunca te cansa?
¿Qué se le ocurre?
¿Estás haciendo algo para incluir esas cosas como parte de tu vida o las estás ignorando?
Don’t throw away your talents but learn to use them in everyday life.
Other than that – think about what you like and appreciate in life. What kind of qualities do you prefer in people?
¿Por qué las prefiere?
Piensa profundamente en tus valores y en por qué eliges tenerlos específicamente. Pensar en estas cosas nos permite ver objetivamente lo que realmente queremos en la vida y lo que anhelamos.
Todo esto está conectado con nuestra guía interior.
It’s usually the heart that tells us what it wants and the mind that comes up with reasons why we shouldn’t do it.
Por una vez en tu vida intenta pensar qué pasaría si silenciaras tu mente y escuchó tu corazón?
I know that’s probably risky and hard to do – but it’s almost certain that it will bring your great inner satisfaction despite the challenges.
Many people who decided to follow their heart, passion, and fulfill their life’s purpose lost everything along the way but still stayed happy.
Esto nos devuelve al principio, cuando dije que tener y vivir un propósito es el sentido de la vida.
Vivir feliz es lo que hace que la vida merezca la pena.
I don’t know why it’s sometimes hard to see what brings us happiness when it’s right in front of our eyes but I know we’re always longing to have it.
At the end of the day asking “what is life?” and “what is the point of life?” tells us there’s purpose. Why should we long for one if there’s none? How could we know about it?
Ese sentimiento profundo que nos dice que hay un propósito superior en nuestra vida es indistinguible.
The higher purpose shouldn’t be equated with something mysterious or unattainable and far… because it’s right here with us. It’s a life worth living and you’re the one who sets the rules.
Don’t pollute your mind with things that don’t matter. Things that are transient. They don’t hold the purpose, they just make our lives more fun.
Don’t participate in emptying this world of the true essence.
Instead, work on maintaining it. Do it by always reminding yourself and others what’s really important to you and them. Be an ally to significado.
Haz cosas que te hagan vibrar y observa cómo el significado se despliega ante ti.
“Be a lover of the world, it is the only way to survive in it.” – Janosch
