What is the meaning of life when you come out of your mother’s womb? You’re an infant, lost, scared, crying, seeking comfort. Your parents are the beginning, the start of life. As you grow, your innocence is intact; you have no clue or much definition of life. But as you grow with your parents—or parent, for those who didn’t have the blessing of both to guide them through life—sigh! Life, when most people would say it, means education, hard work, and success. But in my opinion, life is so much more.

Life has many aspects: parenting, guidance, education, work, finances. But what about the small things? Laundry? Food? Clothes? Speech? Formalities? Ahhh, love, too, and so much more. Learning how to drive, how to communicate—there’s so much more, and the list goes on. Can you list some things I missed?

Life is such a small word, just four letters, but it holds such a big meaning because there is so much in life. It’s not easy. When you grow up, at 18, you have to find a job, pay rent, all kinds of bills—phone, car, electricity, water, etc. Ahhh, but life still has so much more. You have to make mistakes—I say you have to because you will, like it or not. It’s a must that you will make mistakes. Just keep in mind that from those very same mistakes, you can learn, gain experience, and make yourself better. It’s a part of life—grow, learn, live, and just keep pushing, even if it gets hard.

So, what is life? Can anybody actually define life? Because what life is for you may not be life for someone else. Yes, there will be agreements about life in general, but there will be disagreements too, and very different opinions.

What about the other side of life? Life growing up in a gang-related neighborhood where you have to defend yourself to gain respect and have people leave you alone. What about the life of innocents getting shot and killed, where drug overdoses are common, and prostitution is on every corner? Where you don’t have a family, so your gang becomes your family—stealing and drug dealing just for money to feed your family, pay rent, or clothe your children, maybe even buy a vehicle.

Wait! What about this life? Is this life? Yes, this is part of life—the life people overlook, take no notice of, or forget. The life no one likes to acknowledge, or even drive or walk through a neighborhood where this is life and normality for them.

So, what is life? Can you tell if there is an actual definition of life? Maybe in a dictionary, it says, “the sequence of physical and mental experiences that make up the existence of an individual”—one or more aspects of living. Is this what life means?

In the dictionary, there are 24 definitions of life. So what is life? I, for sure, am no expert on life because I have spent most of my life in prison, and I’m just asking: What is life, and the meaning of life? If there is a definition, can you tell me? I think life is so much more than four letters in the alphabet, so much more than 24 definitions in the dictionary, and so much more to explain…