Find Your Meaning, Fulfill Your Life

Life is simple; it's the living that's tricky. Some complicate life by trying to meet the needs of too many people in too many different circumstances. Others bore themselves in front of too many screens. It doesn't have to be that complex or lifeless. To really feel alive, it comes down to two simple things.

The first reason for living is personal fulfillment -- a sense of personal meaning, expression or contribution from the things you do. Fulfillment is quite simple to achieve but uncommonly pursued. It comes from proactively being or constructing who you are. No one else can identify fulfilling activities for you - they cannot feel the 'fit'. It is your own challenge to experience a diversity of life and discover those meaningful things you would love to do.

It is my belief that most people know exactly what life activities would be absolutely fulfilling and vitalizing for them. It is also my experience that fear, uncertainty or plain old laziness keeps too many from pursuing those meaningful things. Don't they know that every meaningful life experience begins with one uncertain step?

Think of the last time you felt full of life. I'll bet that uplifting experience involved an accomplishment, a new experience, or a moment shared with others (or maybe all three). I'm certain it did not involve a television, computer, or cell phone. How do you spend your free time? Personal fulfillment is most available in the full flow of life.

The second reason for living is the achievement of a self-sustaining lifestyle. This means you have found a way to generate the time and finances to live the lifestyle you desire. At its base level, sustainability is about personal survival. At the premier level, a self-sustaining life is about freedom. Many pursue an extravagant lifestyle full of choices. Others achieve freedom by not wanting much. Either way, there is a great satisfaction that comes from being able to sustain the lifestyle of your choosing.

Sustainability is given little value by some career coaches who put all their eggs in the fulfillment basket. Their argument is that personal fulfillment is all a person needs to feel truly alive. My experience with adult clients has illustrated the equal importance of both pursuits. Without self-sustainability, individuals have inadequate time or resources to engage in their true passions. Without fulfillment, lavish lifestyles run thin quite quickly. It is important that we each proactively construct a life that offers ample portions of freedom and fulfillment.

In the song 'The Last Resort', the Eagles sang, "They call it paradise, I don't know why, call some place paradise, kiss it good-bye." This lyric is great advice for each of us constructing our own unique version of a fulfilling and sustainable life. Even if you are 'there', you cannot put your feet up. If you do, kiss fulfillment and freedom good-bye. It is the continuous pursuit of these two goals that makes life so enriching. You are encouraged to turn off the TV, step away from the computer, leave your cell phone at home, and use that newfound time to pursue that thing you know you want to do.