당신에게 있어 삶이란 어떤 의미인가?

인생의 길은 곡선이다.
끝이 빤히 내다보인다면 무슨 살맛이 나겠는가.
모르기 때문에 살맛이 나는 것이다.
이것이 바로 곡선의 묘미이다.

훌륭한 사람들은 주어진 상황 안에서 포기않고,
자신이 할 수 있는 일을 찾는다.
그들은 직선으로 가려 하지 않고, 여유를 즐긴다.
다시 말하면, 우리는 매분 매초마다 우리를 둘러싸고 있는 것들에 대해
서두를 필요가 없다는 말이다.
이것이 바로 곡선의 묘미이다.

때로는 우리는 천천히 돌아가기도 하고
길을 잃고 헤매기도 한다.
하지만 이러한 과정들은,
목적이 아닌 과정을 충실히 깨닫고 산다면,
그야말로 훌륭한 것이다.

Life is like curve.
Would you be excited if you knew what to expect next?
That's why we are excited about life, because we can never
expect what will happen. That's how the curve of life is.

Great people find their purpose and pursue it under any given
condition. They don't try to go straight, but they take their time.
That means, we don't need to hurry every second to accomplish
all goals quickly. That's how the curve of life is.

Sometimes we make a detour and sometimes we lose our way
and wander. However, all this is okay, if you recognize that most
important in life is the process, not the goal itself.

[KOREAN and Eng. and the photo by Kim Tae-Hwan, his blog Awsome Spots of Korea]

Note by MKL: 만약 한국분이시라면, 제 블로그에 덧글도 좀 달아주세요.
전 한국을 사랑하거든요 ^^ 고맙습니다!

Was ist der Sinn des Lebens?

Mein Sinn des Lebens ist Menschen zu bekheren. Nein, ich bin keine Pastorin und ich bin auch keine Moralistin. Ich bin eine normale Frau, die an einem Zeitpunkt ihres Lebens ihr Kind verlor und mit dem Verlust des Kindes zerbrach auch die ganze scheinheile kleinbürgerliche Welt. Es gibt keinen gott! Es gibt keinen Almächtigen und Barmherzigen, es gibt nichts außer des Menschen unendliche Dummheit, Phantasie und Machtbegehren. Es gab keinen gott 1938, es gab keinen gott 1945 und es gab keinen gott 2002. Seitdem ich meine Augen geöffnet habe, liegt mein Sinn des Lebens so vielen Menschen wie möglich durch die gleiche befreiende Erfahrung ihre starke Vernunft mit dem schwachen Herzen zu ersetzen und zugleich das Herz viel bewußter zu entfalten und sich der Vernunft mit größerer Gewißheit und Stolz zu bedienen. Mein Leben ist in der Realität angekommen.

My meaning of life is to convert people. No, I am not a pastor and I am also not a moralist. I am an ordinary woman, who at a certain point of her life lost her child and with this loss the whole fictitious smalltown world was shattered as well. There is no god! There is no almighty and merciful, there's nothing but the human stupidity, phantasy and the thirst for power. There was no god in 1938, there was no god in 1945 and there was no god in 2002. Since I opened my eyes, I found my meaning of life in the effort to give as many people as possible the same liberating experience of replacing their weak heart with the strong reason and at the same time letting their heart unfold more consciously and being proud and confident to rely on reason. My life arrived in reality.

[GERMAN version and Eng. translation by Silke W., her website of choice]

Apakah arti hidup?

Selama hampir 24 tahun kehidupan ini, hidup adalah keluarga. Sebagai manusia, keluarga - orang tua adalah pengalaman pertama akan cinta tanpa dasar. Dimana orang tua dan saudara sekandung mencintai diri kita apa adanya, seberapa jelek pun rupa kita, betapa hancurnya kepribadian kita, bahkan cinta mereka tak akan luntur karena nilai raport yg kebakaran atau separah apapun kemampuan kita untuk jadi shopaholic, workaholic, ataupun holic-holic lainnya. Jika hidup adalah sebuah lukisan. Keluarga adalah warna dasar. Biru untuk lautan, hijau untuk rerumputan, dan merah untuk sang mentari. Kemudian adalah teman-teman yg kita kenal dari kecil. Pertama kalinya kenal bagaimana caranya berempati, berbagi, tertawa, bermusuhan. Masih ingatkah dengan masa kecil tak bernoda itu? Masih ingatkah perasaanmu ketika bertemu mereka yang dulu untuk pertama kalinya berbagi sepotong kue dari ibu guru di sekolah? Bagaimana perasaanmu ketika bertemu mereka sekarang dan mereka masih menyambutmu dengan tawa ceria walaupun wajah itu sekarang berkerut, berminyak, dan berjerawat, ataupun penuh dengan guratan tajam kehidupan. Warna warni manis dalam hidup. Mereka adalah warna biru tua pada ombak di lautan, hijau kebiruan pada laut dangkal, bahkan semburat kemerahan di langit senja. Lalu, teman-teman yang datang dan pergi dalam kehidupan. Ya teman sekolah, teman kuliah, teman di tempat ibadah, teman di teater, dan teman-teman lainnya. Mereka juga ambil bagian di lukisan hidup, ada yg menyenangkan seperti burung kecil yg terbang ke cakrawala, sampai yang menyebalkan seperti jembalang di tengah sawah. Tapi intinya, tanpa mereka, lukisan hidup gw ga akan ada isinya. Hidup adalah cinta, persahabatan, dan perjuangan untuk membahagiakan orang-orang yang kita cintai. Dan yang terpenting, jangan pernah kehilangan dirimu sendiri dalam hidup, betapapun sulit dan berlikunya jalan hidupmu. Karena dengan mengenal dan mencintai diri sendiri lah kita bisa selalu kembali ke mereka yang kita cintai. Kenalilah dirimu, maka kau akan tahu apa yang ingin kau lukis dalam hidupmu.

For almost 24 years in my life, life is family. As a human being, family - parents are our first experience in having unconditional love. Where parents and siblings will still love us the way we are, no matter how ugly you looked like, or how awful your personality is. Their love won't vanish just because of your report card blazing red or how capable we as a shopaholic, workaholic, or any other holics there are. If life is a painting, family is the base colors. Blue for the ocean, green for the grasses and red for the sun. Then, the friends that we've known since we're small. The first time learning about empathy, sharing, laughter and enemies. Can you still remember the innocence of that childhood? Can you still remember the feeling when it was the first time they shared their piece of cake from the teacher with you? How do you feel when you meet them now, years afterwards and they still embrace you with the same happy laughter even though those faces are now wrinkly, oily, or even being decorated with acne or grieves of life. They are the sweet colours of life.. They are the dark blue in the deep ocean, greenish blue in the shallow waters, even the reddish glaze in the afternoon sky. Then, the friends that come and go in life. Friends in school, in college, the one that you meet every sunday for church, your community friends, and others. They are also the part of this painting of life. Some are fun and beautiful like the birds flying on the horizon, some are very irritating and annoying like the gnomes in the field. Life is love, friendship, and the struggle to make our loved ones happy. And the most important thing is not to ever lose yourself in life, no matter how difficult and twisted your lifeline is. Because by knowing and loving who we are, then we can always go back to the people that we love. Know yourself, then you will know what you paint in life.

[INDONESIAN and English by Selvy, her blog The World With No Together]

人生的意義是什么?

人生就像西遊記。前進的道路上有許多“惡”的東西分散和誘惑你。我相信我們每個人都是天使，發送到互相幫助，在直道上住宿和窄的路，直到我們達到"西"方。

Life is like Journey to the West. Along the way are many "evil" things which distract and tempt you. I believe each one of us are angels, sent to help one another stay, on the straight and narrow road until we reach the "West".

[CANTONESE CHINESE version and Eng. translation by Lai San, her Yahoo blog]

อะไรคือความหมายของคำว่าชีวิต

We're always asked about "what is the meaning of life" and we're always going back to ask ourselves what it is. In fact, in our daily life we seldom ask ourselves what "life" is. We live our lives without being concerned about the meaning of it. I'm also someone who usually doesn't ask herself what life is. However, when I get this question, I take some time to think about it and come to the following answer: No matter if my life will be a success or failure, no matter if my life will be happy or somber. It will still be my life and this is the meaning of my "life", because in life we are born to learn, we are faced with various feelings and experiences. That's how colourful life is.

[THAI version and Eng. translation by Kanchana Intarajorn, her blog kAncY's SitE]

人生的意義是什么?

人生 - 人要活生生.

If people want to have a life, they need to be alive.

[MANDARIN CHINESE and English by my dear friend Cherry Lai, her MSN space blog]

Ano ang ibig sabihin ng buhay?

Para sa akin, hindi ko talaga alam ang ibig sabihin ng buhay. Madaming tao sa mundo nato ay nagtatanong rin nito pero di nila pa-rin masagot. Baka ang dahilan kung bakit tayo ay nandito sa mundo nato ay dapat wala talagang sagot. Baka ang buhay natin ay ang sagot sa tanong nito, yung ginagawa nating araw-araw, kung paano nating ginagalang ang iba, at ang mga modo na palagi nating kinakayang isunod. Pwede rin na wala talagang tunay na sagot sa tanong nato. Baka ano ang gagawin natin sa ating buhay ay ang sagot o baka may posibilidad na tayo ANG sagot.

What is the Meaning of Life? For me, I really don't know the meaning of life. There are a lot of people in this world that also ask this question but they still can't answer it. Maybe the reason why we are here in this world really doesn't have an answer. Maybe our life is the answer to this question, what we do each day, how we treat others, and the virtues that we try to follow. There can also be no real answer to this question. Maybe what we do in our lives is the answer or maybe it's possible that we ARE the answer.

[TAGALOG version and Eng. translation by Rica Nolasco, her blog Embrace The Laughter]

The Meaning of Life series

Yesterday just before falling asleep, I was thinking about some new ideas for my blog. I got the idea to do something interactive and in many languages. Since I know people from all over the world who speak various languages, I thought why not ask them one question and let them answer in a blog post and in their own language. I was wondering what that question could be? It had to be something universal, something that connects all of us as humans. And I finally came to this question: What is the meaning of life for you? Just tell me what comes to mind when I ask you that question. It is not simple to answer. It takes time and a bit of thinking. It should be something around 5 sentences. I sent this request to various people and I hope they will respond and write their answers in their native languages. In the end, I will write about the meaning of life in my own native language Slovenian. If you read this post and you want to participate, feel free to tell me. If the language you speak, is not yet covered, you will be free to represent your language. Let's see what's the meaning of life for you.

[Photo: Source]