[kstenerud]

Any thing you define life in terms of is a fundamental error. There is no meaning except that which you make for yourself. You can define it in terms of what to be, or what to do. If you define it in terms of what to do, life loses meaning once you run out of things to do. If you define it in terms of what to be, you end up in an ego contest with anyone else who wants to be the same thing, and life loses meaning once you become "common".

Religion dodges the issue by presenting goals that cannot be reached, which I think is a fair compromise for most people.