Why does my life matter?

Your life among billions of others

As we move into 2020, it’s exciting to think about how our world is growing. Thousands of new lives are born every single hour — in fact, nearly 15 million little people have come into the world since the new year began! Have a look by clicking this link to the Worldometer website.

But in a planet of seven and a half billion souls, sometimes it’s hard not to feel small. As our population booms, we begin to question the importance of our presence and ask “does my life really matter?”

Truthfully, my life certainly matters to me — as I see it, it’s the only one I have! But in the grand scheme of things, as just one of those seven-point-five billion people, I have to realise the short answer is “NO.”

Understanding this, I think the question “why does my life matter?” is far more meaningful.

Why Does My Life Matter?

It goes beyond my physical existence and focusses on the impact I have on the world — specifically on the people I influence (directly and indirectly) with my actions. I ask myself:

Have I improved others’ lives by being here? Have I focussed too much on my own time and getting through the days and years? Have I accomplished enough to make the life of those who I reach better, or has it all been of little consequence?

Someday, we won’t be there to answer these questions ourselves; it’ll be up to the people we spent our lives with to speak to our impact.

When they talk about my life, I hope my momentos tell my story. I like to think the family photos, precious books, home videos and belongings capture enough of my own ideas for my descendants to get a sense of my character.

For me, MyMeander forms an important part of my story. I helped create the app not just to record the many moments that make up our lives, but to provide a platform to add details and context, so that “the why” of our lives is evident. I want to be able to share these memories with those who were there, so they can add their unique contributions to my story.

So, will this be enough to convict me of having a life that matters? I hope so, because I believe my life has value, both to me and many others. We were created to make a difference — not one person in the seven and a half billion (and counting) will ever live a life like mine!