The Meaning of Life

So, a month or so ago I was talking to my friend, JH, and we were discussing life on a grand scale.  We delved into all sorts of topics, including religion, and the space-time continuum.  While we talked I think I came up with a word that defines the MEANING OF LIFE, for me anyway.  What I told Jim is that there must be specific purpose in order for us to involve ourselves in anything.  Regardless of how stupid anyone's actions may seem (and believe me, I am constantly trying to understand what people are doing), there is always a purpose at the moment of action.  The purpose of one's actions is manipulated directly by inward and outward influences.  This is obvious and I am not saying anything that you don't already know, but the one thing that I had not thought about was that despite the influences, whether it is religion or the space-time continuum, there is something more that drives our decisions - improvement.  I believe that if the meaning of life could be summed up in one word, for me it would be 'improvement'.  Every action is influenced by the thought that someone or something will be improved by that action.  Much of the time, it is self-improvement.  Sometimes it is the improvement of others.  Sometimes - the improvement of an idea.  Even Taoist philosophy which says that we as humans should just kind of flow with the earth, maintains the general idea that the earth will be in it's best form, if everything were in perfect harmony.  In this way, not taking action is the manifestation of their inner influence, and the idea of improvement.  Some of you may be reading this and thinking, "That is such an American way of thinking", because some peoples actions are only motivated by survival, and doing what they can at the time they can.  Some people are not interested in bettering themselves or improving their status.  I say that each of them are still faced with a choice.  To survive is to improve.  To even remain in existence means that your physical body must constantly improve it's situation.  You must feed your body to keep it functioning.  So let me finish with a question.  Who do you think gets the most Meaning out of Life, and does it have anything to do with who/what/ they improve?