Nicolae Tanase: Anita, what is the meaning of life?

Anita Moorjani: The meaning of life? In other words, “Why are we here”? To eat chocolate, of course! Why else? 

I know you think I’m kidding, but I’m actually not. Well…..ok, we’re also here to watch glorious sunsets, to make love with our beloved, to laugh heartily, to love fearlessly, to live life fully and with abandon, and to do all the things that bring us joy.

So if it’s really that simple, then why are so many of us living joyless lives? I believe it’s because we make it more complicated than it needs to be. Most of us, myself included, have at one time or another, bought into beliefs that tell us we need to do more, be more, work harder, be better. We buy into the fear that we’re not good enough the way we are and we need to do whatever it takes to get ahead of everyone else because there isn’t enough to go around. So we get on this treadmill, constantly trying to get ahead of the person in front of us. Except the person in front of us is doing exactly the same thing, trying to get ahead of the person in front of them!

Ironically, many of us are like that even in our spiritual practices, believing that spirituality needs to bepursued, and we need to work at it harder, meditate longer, or read more, to be more spiritual than the next person! Like there isn’t enough spirituality to go around! LOL!  That kind of spiritual belief is driven by fear, not love. Fear of not being spiritual enough, as opposed to a knowing that we already are spiritual beings, whether we realize it or not, and that we already are everything we are trying to attain.

It wasn’t until I died that I understood this. I was suffering from what should have been the final stages of lymphatic cancer, when my organs shut down and I went into a coma. I was at death’s door, and the doctors told my family that I wasn’t coming back. However, while in the coma, I experienced what I would call an “awakening”—also called a “near death experience”. During this state, I realized that I had my priorities wrong and had spent a lifetime trying to be something that I’m not.

Death made me revaluate what is actually important in life. When we don’t realize this—that death is the ultimate leveler—our priorities are very different. But once we have a glimpse of it and actually experience it and bring that feeling back with us, we realize: Wow! All these things that I thought mattered actually have no significance on the other side! It rearranges all our priorities in life—how we live, how we deal with our emotions, everything.

Having already faced death, I now know that spending a lifetime of always playing it safe, for example, by choosing the safest career, by pleasing people, worrying about what everyone else thinks of me, meeting everyone else’s expectations except my own, being what everyone else wanted me to be, etc. felt like a totally wasted life. I feel so blessed to have been given a second chance, because most people don’t get to come back when they learn that lesson. This time, I plan to pursue my dreams, love more, laugh more, not take life so seriously, and live fearlessly.

Our life is our prayer. It’s our gift to the universe. We owe to ourselves and everyone around us to be happy and spread that joy around.

Chocolates, anyone? 

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~Anita Moorjani, a New York Times best-selling author of the book Dying to be Me, and a world-renowned international speaker.