Three Ways to Give Your Life More Meaning

Jan 18, 2022 by Melissa

These days, we are all struggling a little because of the pandemic, the economy, and whatever other personal stressors we may be facing.  It is not good to feel like you are falling forward, barely able to get your feet under you – it’s a constant stream of working, consuming, possibly sleeping, etc.  We don’t have enough time to curate our own lives and relationships in a way that makes us feel empowered and fulfilled.

There is a difference between living a purposeful life and living a meaningful life.  Purposeful means that you are deliberately formulating goals and taking steps to accomplish or create an object or situation that will improve your life or the lives of others.  Meaningful means valued, worthwhile, enjoyable and grounded in the moment, which is where the depth is as well.  The meaning is in the moment.

If you are never present in your own life, and if you surround yourself with people and objects that you do not care for or that drain your energy, then you probably do not have a strong sense that your life is meaningful.  This is also associated with beginner’s mind – where you can walk into the same space a thousand times and you do not become habituated to the space or desensitized to the space (object, person, or experience) because you are not the same person and, with each transaction, you have a different perspective.  “No man steps into the same river twice.  For it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” (Heraclitus.)  This is also why rituals are different than routines – the more you practice a ritual, the more meaningful it becomes because you start to see the positive transformations in you.  If you are able to lend greater meaning to an object, person or experience, then you are a magician.  You can create something positive out of a neutral or negative stimulus.  This practice is also quite transformative.

Here are the 3 things:

#1. Be mindful: focus your attention to what is present in the moment, without judgment and with acceptance. It is the nature of our minds to wander to the past and to the future so that we can remember past threats and predict future threats. Make sure you practice this when there are no threats present, but when you feel safe and secure. If you have trouble focusing on what is before you in the moment, you can narrate your experience, i.e., I’m walking to the mailbox; I notice there are birds singing and the wind is blowing and the sun feels good on my cheeks and forehead, etc. or: I’m doing the dishes and am enjoying the warm water and the orderly way I am stacking the dishes in the rack. You can even go a step further by doing a walking meditation to the mailbox and saying “I am home, I have arrived” in time with your footsteps; when doing the dishes, you can say “I am honoring this plate by washing it and by honoring this plate, I am honoring all who have and all who will eat upon this plate, etc.

#2.  Create a morning and evening ritual of self-care.  Do things you already do with a new awareness that you are valuable and loved.  Do them in the same order.  Make a flow out of it, if you can, so your mind can go deeper into the moment as thoughts and emotions pass through you. You can add new habits to your rituals, which makes it easy to establish the new habit.

3.  Get an object such as a crystal or stuffed animal and assign it a meaning: a crystal for protection so you can be free from worry; a stuffed bear to remind you that you are not alone; a tree that represents forgiveness, etc.  You are assigning symbolic meaning to an object.  This is your higher power, also known as mojo (a magic charm, talisman or spell).

Practice these three things and I can guarantee that will have a much better relationship with yourself, with other people, and with your environment.

 

MS