In a life that has suddenly become unpredictable, chaotic, and stressful, many of us are searching to find renewed meaning and purpose to our lives. We might all be asking ourselves questions at this time to redefine who we are and where we are headed as the world is rapidly changing around us.
Meaning is essential to live a happy and peaceful life
We all know someone who struggles to find meaning in his or her life; these people tend to be more anxious, depressed, and angry at life’s circumstances and the experience that they’ve been given. If we want to pursue life with passion, joy, and happiness, we must continually look inward to find meaning and purpose to what we are doing, where we are headed, and even who we are in the grand scheme of things.
How to find meaning? It starts with you!
A search for meaning in life starts with you and what you have to contribute to the world around you. Serving others and living the fullest expression of who you are make life worth living; it’s a lot easier to get up in the morning when you have passion and purpose!
Here are some helpful tips for finding your inner guru and fueling your inner fire once more:
1. Define what is important for you
To discover meaning in life, it is essential that you define what is most important for you. Know the basics—those things, people, and experiences that you must have on a regular basis to find inner peace and happiness. Set about creating conditions that give you your top five, and you are on your way to living a fulfilling life.
2. Uncover your passion, and then live it
Passion for life and for aspects of life make it truly worth living. If your family is your passion, pour your heart into serving them. If travel is your passion, find work and leisure activities that allow you to roam the globe. If finding a cure for cancer is your passion, pour your heart and soul into finding that medical miracle. When you are in pursuit of your passions and giving back to the world as a whole, life becomes a joy to live.
3. Discover your reason to live
If you had to define a singular purpose or goal for living life, what would it be? What do you stand for? What principles do you stand by? Finding this motivation for living what sometimes seems like a daily grind will help you to keep moving forward when the going gets tough…..or even mundane. Remind yourself over and over again why you are here, what your purpose is, and who you are living for, and you’ll reignite a desire within to do better, to improve, and to flourish for the sake of your “reason”. Your reason might take some time to uncover, but it is well worth the effort.
4. Become self-aware
Let’s face it—we all have things we need to work on. Making sure that you are living life with integrity–standing by your principles, keeping your reason and passion in the forefront, and making sure your actions and intentions match up with your highest ideals–is best for living a fulfilling life. As you move through your daily activities and interactions with people, reflect on your actions and be in a constant state of self-awareness and self-improvement. The more you strive to do better, the better you will become.
5. Focus
Instead of focusing on 3 or 4 goals at once, why not pour your energy into a singular purpose and rock that one task? Focus is a key element in the pursuit of excellence, and the mastery of one task at a time is energy that is much better spent than half-hearted attempts at many things. Work on your focus, and your energy and intention will improve in all other things.
6. Know what money truly is
Money is only a medium of exchange—only that. Spending time on the needless pursuits of objects and material goods will only complicate and clutter your life. Instead, spend your money and invest it in people and experiences. You will improve your relationships, create better memories, and experience a more fulfilling life.
7. Have compassion
Others might not share your fervor for life, and that’s okay. We are all traveling through the same space together, and we have lessons to learn from each other. Have compassion on your fellow man and what he may be going through. As you soften your heart toward others, you’ll find an opening in your experience as well that deepens the experience of life.
8. Give back
Another key element to a rich and fulfilling life is the practice of service to others. Doing something that honors your passion and purpose in a way that gives to others is an incredibly rich and rewarding experience, and that is something worth getting out of bed for each morning. What a gift, to be able to serve others while doing something that you love!
9. Simplify your existence
Simplifying your life will make it easier to uncover your true motivations and make finding your true purpose much easier. The more that we allow life circumstances to crowd our consciousness, the less clear we are about living a purposeful life. Clear the mental, physical, and emotional clutter, and watch the pieces of life come together with startling clarity.
10. Set goals…and then achieve them
Setting daily goals that allow with your passion and purpose will keep you moving forward, and the achievement of each goal will inevitably continue to build your confidence and fuel your inner fire. Maintain your focus, refuse to give up, and see just what you can achieve!
Found it yet?
Finding meaning and defining what is important to you is a process, and it takes time. Having compassion on yourself and gratitude for the life that you’ve been given will make it easier to navigate your way through a search for your personal meaning to a life filled with joy, happiness, and contentment.
