Life asks, and I answer.

Excerpt from Chapter 4: Responding to Meaning, Will for the Future, in 'Living Authentically in Relationships: How Should I Live?'

Life is a question, the past becomes the answer, and the current me creates meaning.

The meaning of life does not exist in a completed form from the beginning. It is not something to be 'found' somewhere, but something we 'create' ourselves within our relationships.

Life did not attempt to determine our fate by saying, 'The meaning of your life is already decided.' It does not lay tracks for us to follow into the future, forcing us to walk upon them, saying, 'You must respond in this way.' While we cannot change the ruts we have already traveled as facts, the response has been entrusted to us.

In other words, we are being asked by life—in the past, in the future, and in the present—what kind of meaning we will create; we are being asked for our will.

I have made a grave mistake.
There are times when one's heart feels crushed by an overwhelming sense of guilt.

I lie down to turn my eyes away from reality, waiting for the morning to come. Even as the sun rises, my heart only sinks further. I blame myself for why I cannot change and for what I am living for, only to make the same mistake again. Not knowing how long I will continue to wander in a tunnel with no visible exit, another day begins.

I will say this clearly: the past cannot be changed.

You cannot rewind time and start over.
Because it has already passed.

Yes, it has passed.

Therefore, we are no longer living in the past.

We are living in this very moment.
And we are beings who live for what comes next.

We are beings asked by life what kind of person we want to be from now on, and what kind of meaning we want to create and live by.

What meaning did the failures of the past have? That is entrusted to us, the ones living in the present for the future.

We can choose our way of being from this very moment. It is not about choosing things outside of ourselves, such as becoming able to speak well in this moment or achieving results that completely transform reality.

What we think, who we have relationships with, and how we express ourselves. And for us living for the future, it means we are given the responsibility to choose what meaning the past held.

We are being asked by life.
What kind of meaning will you create in your life?

How should we express our will in response to this question? Everything is a declaration of will toward life, precisely by answering this question.

'In the limited time that is life, how do I want to be toward others?'

When I live while answering this question through my own will, the meaning of my life is, for the first time, created by my own will.

It is not about 'what you want to become.' It is about 'how you want to be.' Do not live seeking to 'become' something someday; live in this very moment.

Do not live aiming to 'become' happy; live by creating the meaning of happiness from this very moment. Live by creating the meaning that only you can create, starting from this very moment.

It is okay if you cannot answer immediately. In fact, it is not something to be answered right away. Is it a question that someone else asked and you must answer? Is it a question with a deadline set by someone else? No, it is not. The one who answers that question is, without a doubt, you.

Therefore, I think it is fine for you to take your time and struggle with it.

Life is seeking your answer. That is why it did not lay down tracks or prepare a correct answer. If there is no mistake in your answer, there is no big or small, no good or bad, and no success or failure.

Who has the authority to decide whether the meaning of your life is good or bad? Others have no authority to decide such things.

You live your life on your own responsibility. It may feel heavy at times, but we are not alone. The path to the answer is just a little further. Let us search for the answer together.