Tonight I am hosting a talk on Living a Life of Meaning. I honestly am not sure what I am going to talk about, but I thought that I would work it out on my blog. So, here we go...Let's look at the definition...
Meaning:
1. Something that is conveyed or signified; sense or significance.
2. Something that one wishes to convey, especially by language.
3. An interpreted goal, intent, or end.
4. Inner significance.
How I am now reading this is that living a life of meaning is living a life of Inner Significance.
The question is, How do you develop inner significance? How does one feel inner significance? Where does inner significance come from?
This is obviously a personal thing. It will be different for everyone.
Okay, now how do we know our meaning (perspective) is significant?“There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.”
Anais Nin
I'm starting to get it. Significance comes from our truth. Our truth. In order for us to live a life of meaning, we must know our truth and express that truth onto the world. This leads to the questions, Who are you really? What is your truth?“The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God; and this can be done only by means of the acknowledgment and profession of the truth by each one of us.”
Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
Another quote comes to mind...
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most.
We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?'
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us.
And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Maryanne Williamson
"We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us... We let our own light shine."
So, living a life of meaning, a life of inner significance, is about bringing forth the glory of God that is within us. It is about shining that which we are from within.
It is that feeling that we are not shining who we are that creates a great deal of stress in our lives. It is living someone else's idea of who we should be that creates a lot of stress in our lives. It is when we go against who we really are that we hurt ourselves.
Does an oak tree try to be anything else but an oak tree? No. It is true to itself.
Does it try to be anything the oak tree that it is or compare itself with other trees? No. It is happy expressing itself. It is content with the life that it leads.
So, a life of meaning comes from knowing ourselves and expressing ourselves. Shining who we really are.
"How do I do this?," you may ask. Ah. This is the most important question. How do you know yourself? What is your purpose?
First, what is your purpose? Here we go... Your purpose is whatever you want it to be. Find something you are passionate about and go for it!
Next, how do you know yourself? You can know yourself by knowing your purpose. If you are pursuing your purpose with passion and joy, you are on the right track. (By the way, there is no wrong track). This passion and joy is you shining. You are meant to shine.
Living a life of meaning is you living in passion and joy. This adds great significance to the world because you are leading the way. Can you imagine a world filled with people living in passion and joy?
I can only imagine that that is what heaven really is.
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