"I understand your point, but if a life is spent in higher education, service to humanity, self-sacrifice, and this ends completely at death then to what avail? It is a sum total of nothing. Sure, on the fly through life we add temporal value here and there, but to me absolute death means that life is meaningless."
It was not meaningless while it existed.
But it ends when it ends.
The problem is expecting it should continue to exist beyond it's "use by date".
If you want something to continue beyond this life, don't concentrate on what exists only on account of your view this life.
That will cease when "your" memory of it ceases.
