A friend of mine once told me how he view death in a form of an acronym:
D - departure on
E - earth
A - arrival
T - to
H - heaven/hell
He got the point. Life has to end up for a new form of existence - spiritual. We have no definite idea what life is all about and it's only through spiritual enlightenment or philosophy where we can draw temporal answers. We have to experience death first before we can totally understand the meaning of life. But, is there anyone who really had died and returned to life and shared to us what's really there on the other side? None so far, except for the Lord Jesus Christ.
I myself believe in predestinations. In the first place we did not choose to be born and we did not choose the spirit that will dwell in us and be our spiritual-ego. It is only when we attained physical and mental (as well as spiritual) maturity that we started asking questions like this. The level of our understanding and the kind of learning we have had made us so inquisitive about the meaning of life. But most of the things we knew are only based on what we have read or experienced thus we can not answer questions we don't really knew.
In our real life sitaution, everything is almost in a matter of chance. We may have a very positive outlook in life but we don't know what will happen to us next. And, how about those who oftentimes devote themselves to their belief and pray 4 or 5 times a day and yet never respect the belief of others, or even spare their own lives for a very non-sense purpose(s) and proclaim themselves as heroes? Is that what you call the essence of existence?
However, although we don't have the same level of material accomplishments (like material possessions and achievements) we can still be at the top of the essence of human existence by doing what is right and reasonable, and avoiding things destructive or unjust to others. The Lord Jesus Christ once told His Disciples "Do not do unto others what you do not want others done unto you." It is plain and simple and everything good will be given to you as reward.
Be human enough to treat life as it is.
™ Version 4.2