Once upon a time, there was a little girl. She was an average height and possessed an average level intellect. She wasn’t exceptionally pretty, but wasn’t hideous looking either; she was very average, by almost all means of measure except one — her curiosity was off the charts.

She could never stop asking “why”, and while most questions, for example “why do birds fly south in winter?” and “why does the sun set in the west?” had a trivial, scientific explanation behind it, there was one question in particular which she could not find a satisfactory explanation to.

“Why does our life have meaning?” she asked her teacher. “What are we put on this earth to accomplish?”

“Religion is the most important thing in life,” her teacher replied. “The Bible teaches us to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”

And so the little girl kept those words in mind, with a healthy dose of skepticism that it would not give her life the fulfilment that her teacher had suggested.

A few years passed by, and she grew weary of the customs and practices that religion offered. She turned to her peers for guidance.

“Why does our life have meaning?” she asked her friends. “What are we put on this earth to accomplish?”

“Life should be for partying and fun!” they replied. “If it doesn’t scare you, if it doesn’t excite you, then what’s the point?”

So the girl, not so little anymore, tried to fit in with her peers. She followed them in habits of smoking, of drinking alcohol, of substance abuse, of partying all night long, and yet she found no gratification in it at all. So she turned to her cousin for advice, for he was a few years older and wiser than she was.

“Why does our life have meaning?” she asked her cousin. “What are we put on this earth to accomplish?”

“Life should be lived for love,” he responded. “There’s no greater feeling than devoting your life with someone else who is in return committed to you as well.”

So this not so little girl, who was an adult by now, went and found a nice guy who liked her and treated her well. They fell in love and for once, she felt a warmth and happiness unlike anything she had experienced before. And yet, deep down there was still a gnawing feeling in her soul that her life had not fulfilled its purpose. She turned to her mother for advice.

“Why does our life have meaning?” she asked her mother. “What are we put on this earth to accomplish?”

“The only thing that matters in life is family,” she replied. “There is no greater purpose than raising your own flesh and blood, continuing the advancement of the human race.”

And so the young woman got married with her lover, and together they built a home and family with two kids — one boy and one girl — and a dog and cat to boot. But though she was happy and proud of what they had achieved, she still was not convinced she had the answer to her question, and turned to her mentors for advice.

“Why does our life have meaning?” she asked her mentor. “What are we put on this earth to accomplish?”

“Life gets its meaning when you help those less fortunate than yourself,” her mentor replied. “Its purpose lies in the balance of the universe, and each person must play their part.”

So having a modicum of moderate success in life, and her kids having grown up and gone off to college, this middle-aged woman threw her life into charity — into volunteer work and giving back to a community who were not blessed with such fortunate circumstances.

And yet she still found no satisfaction to this simple yet tricky question that she had carried for so, so many years. Though she had not yet found the answer, she would not give up. And finally, finally, one day in her old age, she realised what she had been looking for had been right under her nose all along.

She was old now, ninety years in age, and every day living was a painful chore to her. Her daily regimen consisted of waking up, sitting around, excreting bodily waste and then nourishing her old, fragile body with food that she could no longer taste or savour.

And that is when she realised that while living itself has no inherent meaning, sustenance is non-optional, thus the meaning of life is food; and if you can enjoy yourself along the way, then all the merrier.