There is no predefined, intrinsic "meaning" to all life. You are an accident of chemistry; self-replicating molecules, over billions of years, underwent the process of Darwinian natural selection and in the conditions of this unusual planet we inhabit, this happened to produce you, a human being. You are a very complex and intricately engineered reproduction machine that is statistically likely to be able to create another reproduction machine with its genes before it gets itself killed. To some, this is an extremely disheartening prospect to consider. Their fear of an existence without a predefined, intrinsic purpose is often greater even than their fear of death.

I can even kind of understand why; it's because they've invented a giant invisible father figure in the sky that they call "God", who, not unlike their parents were when they were children, is supposed to always be there looking out for them and guiding them to the best kind of life. And on top of that, they ascribe to the invisible sky wizard the property of having created the entire universe and controlling the fate of everything inside the universe with infinite wisdom and benevolence. The success of this particular meme probably has to do with the emotional boost caused by fooling oneself that bad things only happen in the present because they will ultimately cause a greater good which will cancel it out. I used to think like that, and it was indeed a very comforting thing to believe when life got me down, but I had to give it up because it simply isn't true.

Yes, it can be hard to accept that shit often happens because of random causes that don't ultimately work for the best. 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the Indian Ocean tsunami were senseless tragedies that no just deity would allow into his design because whatever tiny bit of good came out of them has not outweighed the horrible losses they caused.

There is no God. We are all just lumps of matter and energy following the laws of physics as we move through spacetime. There is no meaning to an atom or a rock or a galaxy or a human being, besides the meanings we humans ascribe to them. Purpose is a human concept.

But I don't see that as a bad thing. It's a great thing. It means you don't have to live for somebody else's purpose. There is no universal dictator in the sky with hidden motives who has your life carefully mapped out to fit into some cosmic "plan" since the moment you were born. You are free to choose the meaning of your own life. Choose many meanings if you want. That's the beauty of being human; we're the only species whose brains are capable of grasping the concept of living for a purpose.

The meanings of my life are to achieve happiness, to study and understand the world around me to the best of my abilities, to spend time with and care for the people I love, to reduce the suffering of others, and in general to try to make the world a better place than it would be without me.