Finding Meaning in Life (take two)
Where does it come from?
Ask yourself, “what am I?”
You exist as a body with a personality. But are you more than a sentient object in spacetime? Can you be distilled to a single essence that has meaning? If so, does that essence have anything to do with the world in which you exist?
You were born with genetic makeup into a culture with its way of life. It may seem that your meaning is established by the circumstances of your birth. Your world has powerful influences on you, but it does not carve in stone the meaning of your life.
You have the power to bring meaning to your life, whatever your circumstances. The meaning you give to your existence sustains you. You have your own personal reason for living. If not, you have nothing to live for, and your survival is unlikely. You sustain your life by the meaning you give to it.
The meaning that sustains you is your own. It is not given to you by the outside world. The ways of the world do not bring you meaning, but you may learn from them. You may apply them as lessons learned in life, but your meaning remains your own doing.
Meaning starts with the thoughts you hold in mind and the beliefs that they generate, so keep aware of them. They form a picture of yourself in the world. When you have no sustaining picture of yourself, no meaning, you are more likely to die than not. Meaning gives you the will to live. Be witness to your thoughts and choose wisely to retain only those that paint the picture that you wish to keep on your wall.
You have many choices to make in life. The choices you make are influenced by the thoughts and beliefs that you hold to be true about yourself. Your decisions actualize your world. Choices, once made, cannot be undone. But you can change your thoughts and beliefs about them. You, not some outside force, control the meaning of your life. You always have options, both before and after the choices you make. You have power over your thoughts, and the thoughts that you choose to hold in mind confirm the meaning of your life as you see it.
Meaning cannot be forced on you. The meaning of your life grows within you, under any conditions. It can be found anywhere at any time. It depends on you, not on the outside world. You may gain lessons from the world, but meaning is your own achievement. You are the maker of meaning in your life. You are the person you think you are.
You are not locked into your life unable to change its course. Your course of action is derived from your beliefs, and your beliefs can change if you change your thoughts about what you are. You have the capacity to change your beliefs even when faced with overwhelming cultural influences. You always have the freedom within yourself to choose your attitude about events in your life. Your beliefs and attitudes pave the path that you walk.
Your lifestyle reflects the meaning that you give to yourself. Your actions betray what you think you are. The potential for reflecting what you think you are is in every possible choice you make, and the possibilities are endless. You have many opportunities to express meaning, and this potential is displayed in your activities and relationships.
Your actions produce achievements. You may have the money, power, and prestige you desire, you may have meaningful relationships with family, friends, and colleagues, or you may have nothing to your liking. If you have nothing to your liking, what are you? Do you still see yourself as having meaning, or do you rely solely on worldly achievements and relationships to interpret what you are?
For centuries, spiritual leaders have said that you are more than your body with its personality and achievements, that you are an eternal essence within that is often called I AM. When you see yourself only as the me of the body, then you miss knowing your true nature. Spiritual leaders note, too, that any meaning that your true nature may have is beyond comprehension. If there is meaning, it is outside your capabilities of conception and understanding. However, any meaning of your worldly existence is always up to you.
As the me of the body you travel a worldly path. You do not know where you were before birth, and you do not know where you will be after death. The body, with its personality, enters existence and then leaves. In between, you walk the way of the world as a lost traveler separated from all else. To compensate for your feelings of disconnection, you give yourself meaning to ground yourself in the world.
As the me of the body, you are constantly giving yourself meaning. As your true nature, you have no meaning. This cannot be comprehended except to say that you are I AM, or consciousness in existence. Consciousness is an emptiness that is nowhere. It is the eternal field of infinite possibility. Consciousness has no meaning because there is only consciousness. Consciousness has no comparison. It has no distinctions. It cannot be described. These are the products of existence. Existence is a thought in consciousness that cannot become real, like a unicorn in a child’s dream. You know existence as the world in which you live. You experience existence as the me of the body. As such, you require meaning to survive. Meaning sustains you in a meaningless world.
The me of the body is transitory. It is not eternal, so it is not real. It comes and goes as a thought in consciousness. Your world is an illusion that is real to you in the moment. In that moment, you find meaning from the choices you make. Your reality, however, is I AM. I AM is the essence of your being, and it has no meaning because it has no comparison in consciousness. You are that which I AM—whole, complete, perfect, eternal. There is no other.
Your worldly meaning is a perception of separation to help keep you alive as the me of the body. The answer to your question, “what am I?”, is that you are that which I AM. You are consciousness in existence. You are the whole of the all. To know this, enter the room-within when ready. It is from within that you touch the eternal I AM that is your true nature.