The problem of the meaning of life in modern psychology.

Option 1.

Life is a priceless gift. Each of us receives this gift from our first birthday and fills it with our own meaning, content, joyful or sad events. Someone strives to fill their life with happiness, which lies in creating a family and family values. Some people see the meaning of life in selfless help to other people, while others chase material values, because they believe that they are the basis of human life. To prove these thoughts, let us turn to works of fiction.

Many literary heroes devote themselves to serving other people. They strive to make everyone around them happy, they try to be useful, because this is where they see their personal happiness. Such heroes include Duishen from the story “The First Teacher” by C.T. Aitmatova. At the beginning of the work, we see the hero as a young man, a Komsomol member, who returns to his native village to teach children to read and write. Duishen is greeted with distrust and hostility by the bai, who consider themselves masters of life. A little naive and inexperienced, he had to endure a lot of bullying, ridicule, cruelty and human anger, but the hero’s dedication and enthusiasm knew no bounds. No difficulties can stop him: in a ruined stable, located on a hillock and blown by all the winds, he opens a school and carries children there on his back across a cold stream, he enters into a desperate struggle for Altynai, who was forcibly married off as a fifteen-year-old girl, fights with wolves , attacking a driven horse. When a real school opened, Duishen became a collective farm mirab, and in his old age, a postman. He is always busy doing things that benefit society. Throughout his entire life, the hero thought not about himself, but about other people, because being useful is his meaning in life.

The main character of the story “Mr. from San Francisco” I.A. Bunina, on the contrary, believes that the meaning of life is the wealth and power that money gives. The writer does not give him a name, he simply calls him Mr., wanting to point out that the hero is a rich man who has achieved a lot in life. He is not young, he is fifty-eight years old, and he has spent most of his life making a fortune for himself. The gentleman is truly a purposeful, persistent person. He devotes all his time and himself to work and achieves great success. He forgets about his wife and daughter, about a decent rest, in order to become even richer and more influential. In just a few years, the gentleman was able to earn a large fortune, which allowed him to live comfortably and go with his family on a trip around the world for two years. A rich old man is sailing on the luxurious ship "Antantida", everywhere he is greeted as a welcome guest, the best maids and footmen are ready to fulfill his every desire. Surrounded by care, he enjoys his rest: eating, drinking, having fun. The gentleman visits various museums with his family, examines famous cultural monuments, but remains completely indifferent to works of world art. He considers himself the ruler of the world, not realizing that money and power do not guarantee eternal life. The gentleman unexpectedly dies in Cyprus, without having had time to enjoy a luxurious life, wealth and power and without leaving a good name about himself.

Thus, we come to the conclusion that the meaning of life for everyone is something different. The richer a person’s inner world, the more a person is ready to sacrifice himself, seeing the purpose of life in serving people. A soulless, low person always cares not about spiritual wealth, but about material values, considering them the goal to which one should strive.

The problem of finding the meaning of life

But for many, it turns out to be a big problem to find their purpose in life. The journey in search of the meaning of life can be so long that it becomes as long as life itself.

The main problem of finding the meaning of life is that the individual sometimes does not even see the need to give his life some meaning, to equip it with some real purpose. In the case when a person realizes the futility of his existence and does not see the ultimate goal of existence, then there is a desire to fill the emptiness in the soul with alcohol, drugs, casual sexual relations and other deviant manifestations. The lack of further life aspirations can lead to prolonged depression and an apathetic state. Gambling addicts or people subject to harmful habits in the form of alcohol or drug addiction, most often have not decided on their life goals, their existence has not acquired meaning, therefore, subconsciously such subjects strive for self-destruction and burning through the allotted time.

If an individual does not feel happy, it means that he has not yet realized his life purpose, has not known himself. After all, happiness is not a successful career or a profitable marriage.

Happiness is the road leading to the knowledge of your personality. And in order to reveal your individuality, your inner potential, you need to constantly develop your personal qualities. Self-development is the meaning of life for people striving for harmony with their inner “I”.

A person spends quite a lot of time searching for the meaning of life. How can we ensure that these many hours are not wasted and that the search is ultimately crowned with success? In fact, finding the meaning of life is much simpler than it seems.

It is enough to adhere to some rules and not get hung up on the fact that the realization of your purpose does not come:

Do what you love. Try to turn each day into a series of pleasant moments. When a person does what he really loves, he is happy. But this is precisely the feeling that many people strive for; the desire of most people is simply to be happy. “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that the most important thing in life is to be happy. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote "happy". They told me: “You didn’t understand the task.” I replied: “You don’t understand life.” John Lennon
Love what you do. It is difficult to devote yourself entirely to a task that does not give you any satisfaction. Therefore, it is necessary to try to give each of your activities a positive connotation.
Learn to understand your feelings. Listen to yourself to understand what exactly the meaning of life is for you - self-development, family, career or religion.
Accept yourself for who you really are, with all your negative qualities and bad habits.

From childhood, we have some ideals hammered into our heads that for some reason we “must” live up to. If we are born into a Christian family, we must become like Christ; in a Buddhist family, a child must become a Buddha. We are born into an imperfect society, where people who were raised in the same way and who themselves failed to accept themselves, imbue our minds with the vicious idea that we should become someone else, thereby distracting us from our own essence. © Osho

Option 2

Final essay on the topic: “What is the meaning of life?” can be distinguished by the fact that this issue is relevant for every person. For some, the answer is obvious and lies on the surface, while others spend their entire lives trying to find the answer to this question. So what is the meaning of life for you? I think that there will not be the same answers here, because the topic is very personal and individual.

For each person, the meaning of life lies in different things. After all, everyone has their own values in life. For some, the meaning of life will be a family in which they completely dissolve and feel happy. After all, giving joy to loved ones and enjoying the family hearth is so wonderful. For others, it's a career. Constantly racing with competitors, achieving new and new heights - this is what brings satisfaction.

If we plunge into the world of literature and try to find the answer to this question on the pages of works, then we will also be faced with the fact that for each hero the meaning of life will be completely different.

For example, Natasha Rostova from the epic novel “War and Peace” considers family to be the meaning of her life. She is a sincere and kind person, she is honest with others, which evokes only tender feelings in them. She carries love for her family throughout her life. Initially it is love for parents, brothers and sisters. In the future, Natasha gives her heart to her husband and children. This is the meaning of life for this heroine. She remains true to her ideals, which make her happy.

If we turn to Bunin’s story “The Gentleman from San Francisco,” we will see the meaning of life in material values and benefits. The main character completely devotes himself to work in order to be able to provide himself and his family with a comfortable existence. He doesn't see anything different because all days are the same for him. He has a goal - rest. He goes to her for a long time, without ceasing to work. The meaning of human life and happiness are very well touched upon here.

A clear picture is created by the description of the journey before and after the death of the Master. When the heroes regret more about an unsuccessful vacation, as well as a spoiled status, than about the death of their husband and father. Using a fairly harsh example, Bunin was able to show the minuscule role that material wealth plays in a person’s life.

At the same time, in Russian literature it is very common when the main thing for the heroes is service to the Motherland. For example, Andrei Sokolov from the story “The Fate of a Man.” From the very beginning of the war, he goes to the front, receives several wounds, but never regrets his choice. Also, love for the Motherland is the meaning of life for Vasily Terkin, the hero of Tvardovsky’s poem.

And, of course, love! Where would we be without her? People for whom love becomes everything are often found both on the pages of novels and in everyday life. Examples of this can be found in such works as: “The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky, “Garnet Bracelet” by Kuprin and many others.

To summarize, I would like to note that each of them is right in their own way. A person finds a goal and strives for it. What could be more beautiful? But they all have one thing in common - love. For some it is love for family, for others for money, the Motherland, or a loved one. This list can be continued indefinitely, but each of these meanings has the right to exist. All people are fundamentally different from each other, so why should they admire the same things? The main thing is to understand what is most sacred to you, for which you can make any sacrifice. Because if you make the wrong choice, you can be very disappointed in the end, because you didn’t achieve what you wanted in life.

The feasibility of self-development

A person is somewhat like an airplane. An airplane can travel on the ground, but to prove that it is an airplane, it must take to the air. It’s the same with us: if we don’t rise above ourselves, no one will even guess that we can fly. © Viktor Frankl

It has long been known that a person does not use all the potential capabilities of his brain. Humanity may not even be aware of some of them. It is difficult to even imagine what new discoveries humanity would make if all intellectual resources were used. Perhaps a 100% effective cure for cancer would be found, poverty and hunger would be eradicated... Utopia? May be. Or maybe it’s a projection of the world’s future in the case when most people stop ignoring self-development and understand the global nature of its necessity.

After all, if every person makes every effort to unlock their potential and increase their knowledge and skills, then the world will be enriched with new great professionals and experts in all fields.

What is considered to be self-development? This is a constant continuous process of increasing one’s intellectual abilities, accumulating new knowledge and skills through independent work.

Many people believe that all the necessary information is given in schools and universities, so self-development is a useless and impractical process. Therefore, the thesis “the meaning of life is self-development” is absolutely incomprehensible and unacceptable for such people.

Such a statement is fundamentally incorrect for at least three reasons:

Self-development is necessary to keep up with the times. Any spheres of life do not stand still, otherwise we would still be wearing the skins of killed animals and cooking food over an open fire. The modern world is developing very quickly, new discoveries are being made in any area, innovations and changes are being introduced that contribute to the development and positive changes of the world.
Self-development is necessary to achieve success in life. A successful person is, first of all, a modern person, quickly grasping everything on the fly, able to adapt to various life situations. Success is not just a six-figure bank account or a country villa. A successful person does what he loves, which brings him not only profit, but also pleasure, lives in coziness and comfort and is completely satisfied with his life.
You need to engage in self-development in order to be a well-rounded person. As Moliere wrote, “How nice it is to know that you have learned something!” New knowledge is a life-giving source of energy and excellent food for the mind of any person. After all, an intellectually savvy, erudite and pleasant person in all respects cannot be alone; people around him are always drawn to him. What do we get as a result? Self-development is necessary for a person in order to live a successful, full and happy life, moving up the career ladder and hanging out in the company of worthy people. You also need to develop your potential to achieve peace of mind, because happy is the person who can realize all his plans and make his spiritual impulses come true. Therefore, to a certain extent, it would be quite reasonable to assert that self-development plays an important role in the search for the meaning of life. The statement that the meaning of life is self-development requires a little adjustment. Rather, the final results of self-development can collectively be the meaning of an individual’s life.

Option 3

When writing an essay on the topic: “What is the meaning of life?”, you should turn to the difficult fate of literary heroes who spent a long time trying to find the answer to this question.

Any person sooner or later begins to think about this topic, trying to find for himself that highest goal for which it is worth living further. After all, without meaning, life becomes boring and uninteresting. There is no goal or aspiration. Future plans seem very vague and vague.

If we turn to literature, a clear example will be the heroes of Maxim Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths”. It shows the fates of people who had no meaning in life. They stopped setting any goals for themselves, and lost the meaning of striving for something.

Here you can clearly see what this led to for the heroes of the play. They found themselves exactly at this very “bottom”. But all was not lost in their fate. Thanks to Luke, a wanderer who managed to plant a seed of hope in their souls, the lives of some heroes quickly began to improve.

Take, for example, the Actor, whom Luka helped to go to a free hospital, began to harbor hopes of saying goodbye to his addiction and returning to the stage. He even stopped drinking for a while, until he realized that he would have to go through the further path of struggle on his own. He can't stand it and dies.

The fact is that none of the inhabitants of the “bottom” are ready to change their lives for the sake of great goals and their own desires. They decide to end the fight and refuse to do anything to achieve their goal. They continue to dream, but they don’t want to do anything at all to make these dreams come true.

Unfortunately, many people are not ready to fight for their happiness; it is easier for them to go with the flow and just dream. It’s not uncommon that we begin to look for excuses for ourselves as to why we are unable to do this or that, inventing a huge number of excuses for ourselves.

To fulfill your dreams and realize your own meaning in life, you need to constantly struggle. And first of all, you have to fight with yourself. With your laziness and indecisiveness. You should never feel sorry for yourself and say that you did everything that depended on you. If you haven’t achieved what you want, it means you haven’t realized your full potential and haven’t reached the end. There are no peaks that cannot be climbed.

Drawing a conclusion from all this, we can say that we ourselves are the architects of our own happiness. And it depends only on ourselves whether we can change our lives for the better, or whether we will be forced to be “at the bottom.” There is no need to blame anyone for the state of affairs, because only we decide our fate. And our happy future will directly depend on our attitude.

From childhood, it is necessary to instill in children such qualities as determination and ambition, so that they never lose the desire to fight and achieve the best. Develop your best qualities and strive to reach the pinnacle of success.

Yes, each person has his own meaning in life, but they are united by one thing - you should never lose it and give up in the face of difficulties. Difficult and turning points occur in the life of absolutely every person, but how he behaves in front of them depends entirely on himself.

Character, desire and determination often play a role here. Therefore, you need to set only those goals that you really have an irresistible desire to achieve. Having such huge plans, there will be an equally great desire to bring them to life.

Psychologist and the meaning of life.

In the work of a psychologist, there are often client inquiries about the meaning of life. How to work with such a request... For example: What is the purpose of my life? Where did we come from and where are we going? And for what? But as? Before we start dealing with this request, let's remember what Psychology is. “Psychology (from ancient Greek ψυχή - “soul”; λόγος - “teaching”) is a science that studies the patterns of the emergence, development and functioning of the psyche and mental activity of humans and groups of people.” First of all, I want to tell you right away that a person who wonders about the meaning of life is a real, living person, a reasonable person, a person who knows how to think beyond his animal needs, who is aware of his “I” and his identity. Animals do not question the meaning of life - they simply live. Their task is to survive and leave offspring to continue their family. But man is the only creature on this planet who wants to know why he should live, why he should survive, for what, for what purpose? And this is a very good, very correct question. Different philosophical systems found the meaning of life in different directions and areas. This is how Christians connect the meaning of life with Divine destiny and entering the Kingdom of God (Ecclesiastes 12 chapter 13, 14 verses): “Let us hear the essence of everything: fear God and keep His commandments, because this is all for man; For God will bring every deed into judgment, even every secret thing, whether it is good or evil.” Even Marxism, with its denial of the idea of the spiritual nature of man and the belief in the uniqueness of man’s earthly, bodily existence, did not reduce the meaning of life to the fulfillment of biological and even narrowly understood social goals. He invites a person to find the meaning of life in the happiness of future generations. Someone sees the meaning of their life in creating a certain material result that survives our physical existence. Someone derives the meaning of life from the spiritual sphere. Spiritual teachings connect the meaning of life with a person’s pursuit of the idea of conscious perfection. Every person associates the meaning of life with a sense of his purpose. This purpose is to awaken one’s own talents and abilities in any activity of the nature of direct or indirect (scientific knowledge, artistic creativity) social usefulness. Every person who wants to cope with the difficulties of life, gain stability and peace of mind, must find meaning that will give him powerful support in life. In the question of the meaning of life, it is important for a psychologist, as a person who studies the “soul,” to see the line between working with the client’s mental state and his spirituality. After all, if a psychologist, working with a client’s request, crosses the line from the spiritual to the spiritual, then in this case it cannot be called the work of a psychologist; it is already the work of a clergyman of any church or religious movement. First of all, it wouldn’t hurt to figure out what the client is putting into this request. Is this a spiritual or mental, psychological problem? ... A psychologist working with this kind of requests should not be considered by priests as a competitor. In this search, it is logical to assume that a person should go to a priest for help in spiritual matters, with spiritual infirmities - to a psychologist, and with physical illnesses, turn to doctors. And if a person has psychological problems (and almost everyone has them), then they need to be dealt with professionally, as a specialist in the field of science about the “soul,” and not as a person of faith. As a psychologist working with clients in the Existential direction, I am closer to the existential approach to the meaning of life, which is expressed in the good old principle: “It is important to seek, not to find.” This expresses the view that the purpose of life is simply to live fully, to maintain one's sense of wonder at the wonder of life, to immerse oneself in the natural rhythm of life, to seek pleasure in the deepest sense possible. A recent humanistic psychology textbook sums up the idea this way: “Life is a gift. Take it, unwrap it, be grateful for it, use it and enjoy it.” Of course, psychology that works with a person’s deep psychological problems can help him find himself not only for ordinary everyday purposes, but also in a higher dimension associated with finding the meaning of life. People often turn to psychologists to help them find lasting and lasting meaning in life. Some people drag out their search for meaning throughout their lives, others find support early and hold on to it for many years. Each person himself must find the meaning that will give him happiness and harmony. The main law on the path to finding meaning is to never give up and follow the truth to the end. Truth loves those who persevere. Therefore, any, even the most ordinary person, if he wants to escape from the wheel of problems and disappointments, must look for his own meaning of being in order to fill the energy of his findings for the rest of his life. Search, find and follow the path that he discovered for himself.

Conclusion

You need to understand that there is no general and unified meaning of life. Every person who dreams of understanding his purpose should not look for a ready-made and accessible meaning, but create his own goals, independently choose what to live for. Whatever the meaning of life you choose - self-development or philanthropy, creating works of art or having or raising children - make every effort to realize it, because nothing increases self-esteem and brings us closer to psycho-emotional balance as the feeling of a job well done and achievement set goal.

Remember that you can choose not one life path, but several. If you decide that the meaning of life is self-development, then know that this endless process can help you find other life purposes, understand why you should live further and where to get the strength to move forward.

Love yourself, love life and appreciate every day you live, remembering it with joy and gratitude, motivate yourself to achieve your goals - and you will certainly be happy. Achieving unconditional happiness is a goal worthy of becoming the meaning of any person’s life.

The meaning of life lies in life itself, and not in the conclusions drawn from it. It is in experiencing the very flow of life. Therefore, life must be treated as a continuously perceived experience, and not as a solution to a problem, which may or may not coincide with the answer at the end of the textbook. © Mikhail Dronov

Reflections on lifeVictoria Lvovna Erukh

30 pages of correspondence

There wasn’t really anything between you, a week-long relationship and 30 pages of correspondence in contact, but your thoughts are occupied with him, and you can’t help yourself. It happens that you know a person very little, but you can’t live without him. You see him for the first time and it’s like lightning strikes you. You can't move. A quiver in your voice, a smile on your face and butterflies in your stomach. You feel 21 floors above the sky with happiness. The cockroaches are celebrating something in your head, you are talking all sorts of absurd nonsense, trying to please him.

When you look into his eyes, you see your reflection in them, but not only that. You see your life in these eyes, its meaning and ultimate goal. And his smile is the gates of heaven for you, and when you see it, it thrills you to the point of trembling in your heart, to the point of goosebumps. With him you forget about everything. All those who came before him become nothing to you. It was as if there was no one before him. You just understand that all those who came before him are ordinary, but he is special, unlike them. Life begins with a clean slate. Everything is going as usual.

Suddenly you notice his passive mood, that he is somehow distant and eventually he leaves. This is no one’s fault, it just happened that way, it just happens. You worry, a small hope smolders in you that everything will work out and everything will be as before. You remain friends.

When you meet him again, you can't stay calm. Your hands are shaking, your head is a mess, your face is sad, expressed by the downturned corners of your lips. There is also sadness on his face, he is also not calm. And at this moment, that small smoldering hope grows, turning into a huge flame. You try to do at least something, and you start a conversation. You make peace and it’s like deja vu, everything that was in the dream is happening here and now to you in reality. There are no limits to happiness, it is endless, and he seemed to be happier.

But soon you see that he is cold and then he says that this is a mistake, that we do not need to be together. And again a small smoldering hope settles in you that he will come to his senses, and you begin to wait.

One day you write to him about your feelings, but he tries in every possible way to get rid of you - he deletes your phone number, blacklists you, avoids meeting, builds barriers so that it is impossible to approach him. Now unrequited love appears in place of rosy relationships. You collect the fragments of hope piece by piece, you still believe in miracles a little more.

You give him a surprise, but not on your own behalf, but from an anonymous person. And this time not so that he would return, but simply so that a smile would appear on his face. That smile that drives you crazy. When you see him in a dream, you are in a good mood all day, and you are happy that, at least in the world of dreams, you were together. In all these dreams you see a hidden meaning that increases your hope. And in every coincidence you are looking for some kind of faith in a better life, in a life in which he is. You are afraid that you really fell in love, you drive away these thoughts from yourself and close yourself off from other contenders for your heart, because they are all ordinary, but he is special.

You have nothing left but feelings, memories, his photographs, the same little smoldering hope and 30 pages of correspondence in contact. These 30 pages of so-called life, which reflect everything from the moment you met to parting with him, with the one who, in such a short period of time, managed to sink so deeply into your soul.