what is the meaning?

I've been spending a lot of time lately wondering what the meaning or purpose of life is. I mean, really, what are we here for? What is it that drives us and motivates us to do the crazy things that we do? I really am curious as to what that is.

From a purely biological perspective, the meaning of life is to gain the best mate that you can, procreate, ensure your progeny survives, and then prolong your own extinction as long as possible. That sounds so base, but... is that really all there is? Is the whole of civilization, culture, and humanity in general just an illusion so that we can feel better about that? I suppose it could be true that there is nothing more to life than our biological imperatives, but I choose not to believe that. I want to believe that there is more to life than that, but... I guess we all do. We all choose to participate, at least to some degree, in this crazy thing called life, instead of running around like animals. I suppose that desire to believe in something more could also be a part of the biological mating imperative; it is hard to get a mate if one is an outcast from the tribe.

In any case, even though I cannot prove it, I will go with the assumption that the meaning of life is not just to live out our biological imperatives. That still begs the question, though, what is the meaning of life? Is there a meaning to life, even? Are we just floating through this existence with no purpose other than to do what our consciousness drives us to do day by day, or is there something more to all of this than that? If you talk to 100 different people, you will get 110 different answers to that question. Sure, some of them may agree to an extent, but they are still different. It really does make you wonder if there is a meaning to all of this. If there was, wouldn't it be more obvious to everyone involved? There are many philosophies and doctrines that people follow that tell them, supposedly, what the meaning of life is, but even then there are more interpretations than there are followers. Who knows, though; one of them could be right. It would make it easier to know, though, but I guess that would make this life too simple.

I do wish I knew with absolute certainty what the true meaning (or lack thereof) of life is. I know what I think and believe on the subject (which I will discuss further later), but... is that true, or am I just living my life going completely in the wrong direction? I don't know, I guess only time will tell.