George Bernard Shaw, one of the world-renowned playwrights of English language and Nobel Prize winner in Literature, compared his life to a splendid torch which he wanted to burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations. Like him, there are many inspiring souls who have lived their lives to the full with a firm commitment to finding meaning in their lives and living.
There is a marked difference between people who passively float along with the current and people who are committed to passionate art of living. While the former gradually resign themselves to their mundane life of passivity, the latter make their lives deeply meaningful for themselves and also for others. They, as Michel de Montaigne says, are the people whose value of life does not lie in the length of their days but in the use they make of them.
On the journey of life, we often fill ourselves with a lot of useless stuff like regrets, guilt feeling, anger, self-blame, negativity and lack of forgiveness all of which stifle our growth and prevent us from leading a life of true freedom and happiness.
Dear friends, this is yet another opportunity to realize that what really matters in life is the journey itself and not so much the anxious anticipation of its destination. Therefore stop placing too much undue importance on things that bring no value to your journey of life, Instead, start filling your life with things that really matter and bring meaning to your life with values such as true friendship, altruism, compassion and kindness.
7 Tips on How to Live a Meaningful Life
Focus on the Important Things: We all have some things that are more important than others. Pinpointing is something you must do on your own, since there is no general definition as to what’s most important in your life. Find your life’s purpose: If you want to make your life meaningful, you need to find its meaning first. Otherwise, you cannot really set a meaningful goal.
Give to others: You are the focus of your life, but giving to others will give your life more purpose and meaning. So, focus on the things you find important, but make sure to help others.
Be aware of your actions: Review the actions you take on a regular basis to learn what made you stray from your goal or imagined path. Focusing on details will help you accomplish more, as long as you are prepared to make some changes.
Find some courage: You need to be courageous to live, but living a meaningful life requires a lot more courage. After all, you need to make many changes to achieve this, try new things and put yourself out there.
Simplify life: In order to make your life meaningful, you have to make life simpler. Life is more meaningful if you spend your time doing things that fulfill your life.
Express yourself: You are who you are and there is no one else like you. Instead of fearing and struggling from fear of rejection and criticism, embrace this in a way that allows you to be who you truly are.
Five Powerful Lessons to Learn Only through Experience
The meaning of purpose: We may graduate with honours and pick a great career, but it can still make us feel unfulfilled. This is when we learn the importance of finding meaning and purpose in our lives that go beyond the realm of a secure job and a good education.
Life is difficult: As we grow, we learn that life is not going to be easy, it is not like a hard semester that will pass and we will never have to worry about it again. We learn that it can actually get harder as our responsibilities grow. Life teaches us how to roll with the punches to survive and it is not always smooth sailing.
We have a choice: While many things will be out of our control, we still have a choice. A choice in the way we see things, a choice in the way we react to things, a choice in the way we let our circumstances define who we are.
Everything Is temporary: Pain is temporary, feelings are temporary, even our time on earth is temporary, which is why we have to make the best out of this temporary time and try not to give power to temporary emotions to ruin our lives.
Nothing is impossible: Life is difficult but it’s also fascinating. In the blink of an eye, it can present us with a wonderful opportunity that can change our lives and make our dreams come true.
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