Is there such a thing as the meaning of life? And if there is, how do you find it? And will you know you’ve found it when you do? Or will it seem like just another something or other and will you discard it with everything else you discard?
Well, there is a meaning of life. And the best part is that it isn’t all that hard to find. Actually, there are millions of people who have already discovered the meaning of life. And all it took was a couple of hours of intense looking. Are you ready to discover the meaning of life?
What is the meaning of life?
Even though millions have already found it, this is hard to answer because the meaning of life is, like anything in the universe, relative. My meaning of life may not necessarily be your meaning of life. So if it is relative how can I be so sure that you can find it? Simple. Because I could too. And if I can do it, you can do it.
So how do we then define this meaning of life? My definition of it is that it is the one thing you love doing. You might think, well, I love eating ice cream. I bet you do, so do I. But there is a difference between loving something and lovingsomething. The fact is, I wouldn’t want to eat ice cream every day. It wouldn’t make me want to get up early day after day just to have another bite. And the meaning of life; my meaning of life, does.
My meaning of life
Before we jump into the nitty gritty details of finding out what your meaning of life is, let me explain mine. It will hopefully give you a little bit of a clue as to what sort of thing you are looking for.
My meaning of life is developing concepts. I just love entrepreneurship in that sense. If someone has a great idea, I love helping them with it. I soak it up, it doesn’t leave my mind and when I really get excited, I won’t talk about anything else for days. Ask my girlfriend, I can seriously drive you nuts if I’m excited about something. So that is my meaning of life; helping others in developing their concepts.
Finding your meaning of life
Over the course of the last year I have read a lot of different books on success and looked at many successful people and how they got to where they are today. Most books tell you that you need a goal. A goal in life. Well, that is true, having a goal is good. But sometimes people mix up having a goal and having a purpose. To me, the meaning of life is a purpose.
So how do you find your purpose in life? Well, here’s a small exercise. Imagine you are in a room. It is a beautiful room, with drapes on the walls. It is beautifully lit by many large candles that give the room a warm, intimate feeling. In the room are many people you know. Family, friends, business associates. In the middle of the room there is a beautifully carved wooden box. It is a coffin. And in this coffin lies … you.
Now look at the people as they grieve over the loss (let’s assume they feel it is a loss, just for the sake of it). What are they saying to each other? What do you want them to say about you? Do you want them to say you were a good father to your children? A good husband to your wife? A good friend, always there in times of need?
As the crowd talks and gives their condolences to the relatives, music starts to play. It is your favorite song. As the song comes to an end, a video starts to play. The video shows you, some 8mm footage of you splashing in the bathtub at age 3, photos of Christmas eve when you were 5, and so on. After the slide show, you appear on the video. It is your last message, your last chance to talk to these people. Do you tell them you are sorry? Do you tell them how they’ve enriched your life? What do you tell them, now that you cannot change anything anymore?
Think long and hard about these questions. They are not easy questions to answer, but here is a tip. If you answer these questions with the right answer, you’ll know. The right answer moves you, touches you. It permeates to the essence of your soul. It is you.
When you have found that answer; you have found your meaning of life. This is the meaning of life for you. But that was the easy part…
Living up to yourself
The difficult part of this whole deal is that you might need to make changes in your life. And like all changes, they will be hard. For example, I want to be remembered as a good friend. To achieve this it means that whenever one of my close friends has a problem, I will try to help them. It also means that I offer to drive people home when they are over at our place late at night. These are things that I feel people appreciate and I love doing them, because they fit my purpose. Some of these things have cost an effort to change. But once changed, they go naturally.
You will also have to make some changes, no doubt. But when you have identified what you want to change, immediately change it. Never look back again. And when you do something differently, always think of your purpose in life. Make sure that your mind associates that emotion of your purpose in life with what you are doing. That way you’ll program yourself so that whenever you do this, it will make you feel good. This means that it becomes second nature.
Revisit yourself
There are moments in life when everything changes. Sometimes these are abrupt moments, sometimes it happens as slowly as a rock being eroded by water. In either case, it is good to revisit your meaning of life from time to time. Do this exercise once every year. For example you might do it at the end of the year, so you can make new year’s resolutions that fit your purpose.
Good luck!
Fri, Nov 6, 2009
Becoming Successful, Self Improvement