As I sit here in the 31st year of my life in the year 2016, I have come to the conclusion that the only way to truly enjoy the fruits of hard work and labor is to find “Meaning”. Recently I found out that money doesn’t bring “meaning” nor does “world travel”, nor “partying” nor does continuously doing activities that involve leveraging large amounts of material goods to artificially build short-term happiness.
“Meaning” and its ugly little step-child brother “purpose” have eluded me for a long time now. I have though found success and I think my finding of “success” will only continue and will most likely keep reaching a larger and larger levels because over the last couple years or so I have made success a priority.
This year “meaning” will be a priority.
I have though found “meaning” in doing selfish activities as of recently over Christmas, buying dinner for as many homeless people as I could find in Santa Monica CA. This was in my opinion a “selfish act” of goodness because in essence it was me doing an act of selfishness to help someone in need. I did it because it made me feel good inside and I call that selfish.
I have looked for “meaning” in religion, but didn’t or haven’t as of yet found any “meaning” in religion. On that note, I dislike how religion is put in the same word as faith. I have a lot of faith, faith in myself, faith in god, but I don’t have a ton of faith in religion. I have a great set of respect for my rabbi and people who have dedicated themselves to religion, but haven’t found any “meaning” or “purpose” in being religious. Why that is, I don’t know?
With that said, just as I chase “success”, in 2016 I am going to chase “MEANING”. I am going to chase it with all the rigor and put all that emotion, energy, and enthusiasm I got to find it. I am going to have to make sacrifices, there is going to be some people in my life that inhibit me and take me farther and farther away from “meaning” and to those people I will respectfully become another number and another memory. To the people that bring me closer to meaning, I will invest my time and energy around you and will do whatever I can to bring you closer to “meaning” and at the time push you to great length’s to become the person you always envisioned yourself because the reality is, you are just a little “meaning” away from being there.
I challenge you, to find “meaning” as I am 100% confident that 2016 will be my most meaningful year yet of my life.
