The pink sun glasses of a meaningful life

What makes a life worth living? Ideas, drive, mindset, change, connections. In one word, meaning. Meaning brings happiness, it gives you a reason to wake up in the morning, put clothes on and get out of the door with a smile on your face. Not only it makes your days easier, but it gives you a sense of fulfillment that will instantly add a pink shade to everything you come across.

Ok it’s not as easy as it sounds, but let’s try to break it down to the essentials.

The first pillar of a meaningful life is belonging. Believing in something and working for it makes you feel part of a community. What you do reflects what you think and people that share the same values will give you value for what you really are. Be in a group and identify with it is what humans are made for.

Purpose. Having a goal to channel your skills gives you an incredible energy and keeps you motivated. If this goal includes helping others in something that you believe in, your strength gets even bigger.

Transcendence. When you are connected to a higher reality, being it a sport team, a fandom, a religion or any passion, time flies. Literally. Like a kid that plays even while he is cleaning his room, you don’t even realize that you are working. Proven.

Storytelling. As always, a special mention needs to be given to our brain. Which stories are we telling ourselves about what we are doing? It’s easy to forget, but we are the authors of our personal roman and we are the only ones that have the power to change it. If you describe it like a drama, it would fill like a drama. If you think of it like an adventure, it will be it. And so on.

Indeed, we just need to know our values, find a personal pattern to channel our strengths and write our own fairy tale. Let’s take some time today to be quiet with our own selves and meditate on these four essential pillars. We will be one step closer to a better way of living.

There’s an interesting podcast and Ted Talk on this topic by Emily Estefahani Smith, author of the book The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life that Matters.