I thought this week I'd go through my contact list and surprise my friends with a question that would get them thinking. It surely wasn't the text message they were expecting to receive. Here are a list of some of my favorite responses. Prepare to have your heart melt, cackle, or have an existential crisis.

Life is...

1. "A rollercoaster ride of emotions that everyone processes differently just like how some people like rollercoasters and others don't."

2. "To question what it means to be alive."

3. "Having as much fun as possible until you have kids... then your life is for them."

4. "The privilege to change the world because I believe that's why I was given one."

5. "A test of your ability to swim in sink or swim situations!"

6. "A brutal but wonderful journey towards death, so you better make the in-between count."

7. "Has no meaning to it and there's really nothing special about people... we just give ourselves meaning, so we don't feel worthless."

8. "Living it to the fullest."

9. "Is taking the opportunities given to you and making the most out of them!"

10. "A journey in which the individual is evolving, bettering themselves and those around them, and learning to love rather than hating."

11. "The most beautiful game that never ends."

12. "Whatever you want it to be."

13. "A passage of meaningless time where we all simply hope to matter."

14. “The capacity to experience and manipulate your environment without restriction.”

15. “The struggle for organisms to survive long enough to reproduce and ensure the viability of their offspring.”

16. “Feeling fulfilled and fulfilling others.”

17. “A deck of cards that you have no choice but to play; you just need a good poker face to play them right.”

18. “Trying to find meaning and purpose for oneself regarding of the fact that we are just animals floating on a rock in space, which is beautiful to me.”

19. “An adventure.”

20. “Essentially, it’s like a life in a video game, except if you die, that’s it… If you don’t take control and play the game, then you’ll live a boring life, and it’ll be up to you to level up and decide whatever you want a meaningful life or not.”

21. “Ball. Ball is life.”

22. “The perpetual cycle of running from death while simultaneously running towards it.”

23. “Is a chance to make an impact.”

24. “A collection of moments strung together by a self-aware brain.”

25. “About making every moment of your existence count for something, making sure that throughout it all, when you look back, you can say that you had more ups than downs, and you wouldn’t change a thing.”

26. “The consciousness humans and animals experience that separate them from everything else.”

27. “Life is whatever you make of it; a time to do whatever you want because the minute you are born, you begin to die.”

28. “Even when you’re clumsy and trip over every obstacle in your way, you still manage to get up and chase after your dreams.”

29. "Merely a figment of our imagination."

30. “Is existence.”

31. And mine? Laughing until your stomach hurts with the people you love, eating all the desserts you can, and keeping your face towards the sunshine.