I know there are lots of religious people on here, and this post is not meant to incite debate on religion vs. atheism or anything of the like. This post is directed to those others on here who, like me, do not hold specific beliefs regarding the origins and meaning of human life.

The reason I want to write this post is because for a long time, after losing my Christian faith (I grew up in the church), I found it very hard to bear. The notion that life is essentially meaningless was depressing for me. I am sure there are many people on here right now who feel the way I used to. You're depressed because life seems meaningless. It seems hopeless because you don't believe there is a plan laid out for you. It seems pointless because when you die you're just gone. The world seems a cold, lonely and confusing place because you have no idea why you are here or how you came to be.

I want to convince you that it doesn't have to be that way. I want to show you how non-belief can be the most freeing realization of your life.

Since turning away from my religious upbringing, I have spent years pondering life. And what I've come to realize, after years of pain and longing to believe in things I simply couldn't, that I have never felt so free in my life.

I have come to realize that the origins of humanity, and of the world, are irrelevant. Where we came from and how we got here simply doesn't matter - all that matters is that we are here. And it is that mystery that makes us so beautiful. That we can appreciate our mysterious origins sets us apart from animals. Why should we take that away from ourselves? I don't want to know the answer, I am perfectly content with a beautiful mystery.

I have also come to realize that the meaninglessness of life is what makes it so worthwhile. I often hear people say that they feel life is meaningless, and that this is painful for them. It used to be painful for me too.

But have you ever thought about the fact that it is the essential meaninglessness of life that gives you your freedom to be and do what you choose? When you believe in an external meaning to life, you are held captive by the pressure to fit certain modes of thinking, of behaviour, of being. If, on the other hand, you accept that it is you and only you who can make meaning of your own life, you are free to exercise your creativity, to think outside the box, to entertain what otherwise might seem ludicrous notions.

I don't want my life to be meaningful because of some predestined or divinely ordained path. I want my life to be meaningful because I willfully choose to keep certain people in it, because I choose to pursue certain dreams, because I choose to love and to hate and to think and to be. There are no constraints on my life but naked reality. What could possibly be more beautiful... or more meaningful?

When I was still struggling to maintain my faith, I suffered. I suffered more than I care to recall. I felt perpetually guilty, perpetually sinful, and perpetually in need of redemption. Since I have finally allowed myself to accept that I am the author of my own existence, I have been free of that psychological torment.

I am not trying to convince those of you who have religious beliefs to give up on them - I fully understand and accept that for many people, the meaning that religion gives to their life is irreplaceable, and if you are happy, I am in no place to judge. I simply want to share with my fellow non-believers what I have come to understand. We don't need to suffer. We don't need to feel hopeless. Life is a beautiful mystery, and we are all authors of our own existence. What could be more amazing than that?