INVENT YOUR OWN LIFE’S MEANING
Just to remind you, whatever circumstances surround you, you are allowed to invent your own life’s meaning as many times as you need or want. You’ve got this! You are in control of what meaning you give to your life. So go ahead and choose. Start with one positive meaning and see where the road takes you.
It’s funny – we seem to have no need to delve for life’s meaning when life is good because when it is we spend all our time enjoying it, or pursuing it! We literally have no time for thinking because we are so busy taking in all life has to offer. Great? Absolutely! Go for it!
Great all of the time? Not really sustainable!
Life meaning questions will be heard one way or another, and this is a good thing in the long run. They creep lightly into our minds in the burned out moments recovering after some seriously enjoyable hectivity. Or they pay us a longer, more palpable visit during temporary down time, for example, in illness; in unemployment; in lockdown. Or they can become constant companions bothering us with the same old narrative – what does it all mean? What can we do about them?
The answer is mixed up in the purpose and meaning you ascribe them. Why do you think these life questions are coming into your head now? How do you view your life at the moment? What has gone well for you, and what has fallen apart for you?
In these times much has fallen apart for a large number of people around the world, and maybe, especially you. Dreams have turned to ashes. Families are separated and distanced. Work has declined. Opportunities are on hold, or have disappeared. There is a ‘new’ normal with work and life changes, one with silence and a slower speed of living. There is time to think. There is time to look in the mirror and see who is looking back at us. Hopefully we are happy with what we see. If not, our life meaning questions will pay us a visit. They are here to help us clarify our thinking about life, and to give us the opportunity to review where we’re headed.
We can see out life meaning questions as benign, a nuisance we can swat away without breaking stride. We can see them as accusers highlighting all our foibles and failures, dragging us down as a consequence. Or we can see them as friends nudging us towards what is the ‘best’ us, reminding us that what is ahead can be better that what was behind. These friends urge us to choose positively for the world needs each and every one of us at our best.
Start with one small, positive step. By all means acknowledge your losses but be sure and put a time frame on wallowing. Try – I’m really going to be angry/upset about this for 10 seconds. Make it a good 10 seconds! Really work the wallowing! Then when the time is up acknowledge it – time’s up! You will find you will automatically look to move on. That’s the time to take the small positive step! You’ve got this!