A greater percentage of influential philosophers agree that a meaningful life is the only pursuit worth your limited time on earth.
In our busy, fast-paced world, it’s easy to forget that we’re all ultimately on a journey. Irrespective of your age, you’re always learning about yourself and the world around you.
When we talk about a meaningful life, most of us immediately think of the seemingly endless list of goals we need to achieve to live one. A meaningful life can be anything from learning about yourself to helping others to pursuing your greatest life work.
“Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning,” says Joseph Campbell.
The only thing that matters is your meaningful life. The term “meaningful life” describes life with purpose — living in alignment with your values, passions and goals. It can be hard to find meaning when you’re constantly focused on what you’re not doing; but it’s important to remember that everything you do has meaning.
If you are doing something because you want to improve, it’s already meaningful. It doesn’t matter whether the results are immediate or not. As long as you’re working toward something that means the world to you, you’re already on the path toward meaningfulness.
In the story of life, there is no finish line. Rather than aiming to be the fastest or most prosperous, your goal should be finding meaning in even the simplest experiences. Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be meaningful. Just make sure you’re doing things and engaging in experiences that bring out the best in you.
Striving to live an extraordinary life is different from simply trying to have a great life. Living a good life means focusing on personal growth and improvement instead of external factors that provide fleeting happiness.
Instead of living to impress others, you should strive to impress yourself. You can do this by setting a goal that means the world to you and working towards them every day instead of waiting to feel ready in the future.
All roads lead to meaning
“Whatever we are, whatever we make of ourselves, is all we will ever have — and that, in its profound simplicity, is the meaning of life.” — Philip Appleman
The goal of life is to lead a meaningful life. This means living a life consistent with who you are as a person. Your goals should be things that you care about and want to achieve.
Life has meaning when your actions are aligned with your values. In other words, life has meaning when your actions match your intentions. The meaning of life can change over time as you learn more about yourself and the world around you.
As you grow and develop, living according to your values and ethics becomes more important. Doing so will give you a deeper appreciation for the world around you and ultimately lead a more meaningful life.
A meaningful life is not merely the pursuit of happiness, a balanced and stress-free existence, or a life free from struggle. Those are all secondary goals that support the ultimate objective: a life with meaning.
A meaningful life is something much more profound than those things. It goes beyond the surface and into the heart of who you are as an individual.
It’s about having a purpose beyond yourself and connecting to something greater than your immediate needs and desires. A meaningful life is when you feel like your existence on this earth has meaning and purpose, no matter what challenges or difficulties you encounter daily.
“To give life a meaning, one must have a purpose larger than self,” says Will Durant. A meaningful life allows you to live with purpose, fulfilment and value. It means pursuing activities that make you happy, learning something new and growing as a person. A meaningful life is an essential skill for all of us to develop because it determines how happy we are in our lives.
In her book “Grit” author Angela Duckworth argues that people who have a strong sense of purpose in their lives are more likely to be successful. There are many different ways to define a meaningful life, so it’s crucial to figure out what matters most to you.
For many, it means spending time with close friends and family and volunteering at an organization they care about. For others, it could mean travelling or making art. The key is to find something that motivates you and make sure it’s something you enjoy doing.
“There are essentially two questions in life — a spiritual question and a material question. The spiritual question is ‘Who am I?’ The material question is ‘What am I to do with my life?’ One leads to the other,” observes Rasheed Ogunlaru.
Your only obligation is to give meaning to your existence — everything else is secondary. To overcome a passive life, learn more about yourself, understand your fundamental values and things you deeply care about and pursue the one thing that makes you come alive without reservation.
You can reconnect with your true north at any stage of your life. And always remember what Thomas Head Raddall said, “Life is meaningless only if we allow it to be. Each of us has the power to give life meaning, to make our time and our bodies and our words into instruments of love and hope.”
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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