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What Has or Will Have the Most Meaning in Your Life?
When you live a life that has meaning to you, you will be much happier and healthier and
a more productive and more vibrant person. Exploring what gives your life meaning,
will help you to include in your life the people, places and things that make you feel
happy, healthy, productive and alive.
My first reaction to the title of this entry was that your passions might have the most
meaning in your life, but then I decided that that might not necessarily be true. I wrote
the passions component about activities that you participate in such as sports, music,
art, reading, computers, etc. But it seems to me that when you really boil it down, what
really has the most meaning in people’s lives are family, spirituality, education, career,
and friends. Playing golf and water skiing sort of pale in comparison to becoming an
educated person or to finding God in your life or to having and raising children. Does
that make sense? So I think you might want to look more earnestly at your life and
truly consider what has the most meaning. When you consider the meaning of the word
meaning—significance, momentous, importance, consequence—it seems that what you
want to explore are the things in your life that are shaping your personality, that are
leaving a lasting mark on you, that have a significant, momentous consequence on who
and what you are, that will be with you until you die. Now, if that just happens to be one
of your passions, then so be it.
There are two parts to this exploration: First, consider your life now. Is there anything—
person, place, activity, event, situation, etc.—in your life right now that has a momentous
effect on you? Is there anything that is shaping your personality, leaving a lasting mark,
having some consequence on who and what you are, etc.? If so, write about that thing—
whatever it is—and suggest why it is so significant and what effect it has on shaping
you into the person you are today. Also, you might want to write about how you will
keep this thing as a part of your life as you move through adulthood.
Next, consider your future. (The more you create a vision of your future, the more
apt you are to create that future. If you have no vision, you are opening yourself up to
anything and everything, and you might not like what you get!) Is there anything in
your future that you think will have momentous meaning in your life? Write about it,
suggesting why you think it is important, what effect you think it will have on you, and
how you plan to make this thing a part of your life.
(Excerpted from
Life Vision Portfolio
by Janice Mettauer, published by Pacific Crest) Knowledge