I think we all ask the "meaning of life" questions. Stuff like: what happens when I die, what am I here for or are we alone in the universe. There is of course no definite answer, we have however religions or various theories that (we think) give us clues. I happened to be discussing this with Simon the other day. And instead of making presumptions and digging deeper in the unknown he gave me a very good example of a metaphor for life, I loved it!

It goes like this: Take an orange and hang it on a thread, then place an ant on the orange. The insect will go around the orange about four or five times and then stop... and look up at you.

Isn't it so accurate? People's lives are like journeys or mysteries... We all live and then stop every now and then to think about where we actually are, what for etc. Just like the ant we look up trying to figure out what's going on and go back to our day-to-day tasks not being able to find a definite answer. See, the ant keeps going back to the same point and eventually stops to have a look around and see what's going on.
And honestly, I have no idea whether this is true, I am planning to check this little experiment and see for myself if an ant would really stop and look up. But it does sound very convincing and accurate

While on the topic, here are some more metaphor for life that I found on www.mentalhealth.about.com:

"A Battle - Everything is a competition or a struggle. We are always either winning or losing.
A Garden - Relationships are cultivated like flowers or vegetables. We see things as growing, flowering, producing.
A Mission - We believe that we have the truth and we need to convince others that our point-of-view is right.
A Journey or an adventure - We travel from place to place meeting new people and exploring.
A Building - Starting with a solid foundation, then adding floors and rooms.
A Roller Coaster - Life consists of ups and downs, and we are along for the ride.
A Stained-glass window - full of light and colors.
A Mountain Climb - Life consists of hierarchies. We are always climbing the corporate ladder.
A Race - always finding the fastest route, "keeping up with the Jonses."
A Courtroom - Everything in life should be fair.
Stepping Stones - We barely get comfortable where we are before we are looking for better job or a bigger house.
A Prison - Feeling like we don't have choices, like others have all the power.
A Classroom - There are always new lessons to learn.
A Battery - Every encounter seems to drain energy. We need the weekends to recharge."

ref:
- http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/selfhelp/a/metaphors.htm

- http://www.rheegold.com/1-1-06/1-1-07/September_07/Graphics/state%20of%20the%20art2.gif