Meaning

“The purpose of life is to discover your gift.

The work of life is to develop it.

The meaning of life is to give your gift away  -David Viscott

“Why am I here?  What am I to do with my life?”  These are questions we ask ourselves, often in our teenage years or early adulthood. It is called the search for meaning.   We can often get tied up in looking for a job, a mate or something external that we believe gives us meaning.  But what do we all really want?  We want happiness, kindness and lovve.

Positive Psychology researchers have looked into the question of meaning and found that those who are happiest have something in common.  They choose to be in service to others.  This means that they use their skills and gifts to help others.  While helping others not only do they bring hapinnes to others but researchers found that they also created happiness for themselves.

Think about it.  When was the last time you did something for someone else unselfishly?  How did you feel?

Try it out. It’s fun to find ways to help others.  It can be quite a small thing, like carrying bags for someone to opening a door.  Use your imagination and see what you can come with.   I took the opportunity while out for lunch to pay the bill for two seniors sitting by me.  They were discussing the cost of their meals as they perused the menu.  My heart went out to them and I quietly told the server to bring me the bill.  It wasn’t a hardship for me and it gave me great pleasure.  The seniors were completely ecstatic to receive such as gift.

In Steps to Wholebeing, we examine meaning in our lives and explore how we can grow our happiness while increasing happiness for others.