Finding meaning in our lives is the most important thing for living a good life. However, many people find their lives are dry and dull. Some people live in daily despondency, living from day to day--same job, same routine, same fixes.
The psychologist, Victor Frankl, and author of Man's Search for Meaning, wrote books, lectured, and spoke in endless interviews about the importance of finding meaning in our lives. He claimed that the majority of people actually desire a life of meaning over simply making money; that living a meaningful life leads to greater happiness than chasing the next dollar.
Here are some very simple tips for finding meaning in your life:
1. Follow your dream: All of us have a dream inside; one that is beyond simply getting rich. There is something inside of us that, if pursued, would give us a great sense of meaning. Unfortunately, the demands of money and jobs and other responsibilities have a way of blocking our dreams from being realized. But you don't need to succumb to this. Following your dream is easy: simply do it little by little everyday. Be patient with yourself, and simply do it. Don't expect to complete it by next month, for such things take time.
2. Ask what life needs from you: This is a great question that comes out of Victor Frankl. In a Nazi concentration camp, he explains, a friend of his was considering ending his life. He told Frankl there was nothing more life could do for him, to which Frankl replied, "Would you consider not what you need from life, but rather what life needs from you?" When you look at your life in this way, as living a life that demands something of your talents, then you are more open to finding meaning.
3. Give of yourself: Yes, yes, we've all heard it: it's not what you get but what you give--yet it's true! When we give of ourselves to others we can find incredible meaning. This is the age of the selfie; but don't you see the irony? Selfie's point to loneliness, and are sent to others who are not with you, but also lonely. We walk around lonely, yet serving ourselves more and more, only to find more emptiness and loneliness. When we give of ourselves, we are not alone; and we find a joy beyond merely filling our own whimsical needs.
4. Help someone else find their dream: Do you know people who are struggling for meaning? Do you know people who have dreams but can't actualize them? They need you; but it requires you believing in their dream and seeing them as greater than who they are presenting themselves. By helping another find his or her dream, you will find joy. But you must believe they are greater than they perceive themselves to be; it takes time and presence to see inside them to that little seed that wants to grow and burgeon into something beautiful.
5. Be unconventional: Often people who pursue their dreams live outside of the conventions of the world that are created by the system that is opposed to dream-living. Following your dream may take you outside the comfort zones of friends and family; but if they see your love for them and for your dream, they will be supportive. But be prepared for many to try to pull you back into complacency--misery loves company. Instead of being angry and avoidant, however, try to bring them along. Shedding the conventions of life could be a critical step to following your dream.
6. Turn poison to medicine: It's often in suffering that we find meaning in our lives; our will to preserver in the face of pain and anguish. It is in the working through and pushing through suffering that we turn its poison to medicine. Like the anti-venom that's made from the deadly poison of the snake, so too we can find healing in suffering; we can find meaning in tragedy.
7. Believe: We must believe in ourselves, in our ability to overcome hardships and set-backs, and pursue our dreams in spite of all the forces that well up against us. This often requires a change of mindset; it requires that we choose to see things in a positive light, or as circumstances toward which our attitudes can be changed. While we can't change the circumstances, we can change our attitudes toward them, and choose to see them as obstacles to get around, rather than as that which makes us hopeless.
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