Finding true meaning in life

The thought came to my mind in my very first savasana, why am I here?
Not in the sense of why am I lying on this smelly carpeted floor with a bunch of sweaty people in the same room but contemplating the reason of my existence on Earth. What is the purpose of my being?

When you ask people what they want the most, the number one answer is "to find happiness". Every human being wants to experience joy and a deep sense of contentment. We want to know that we have lived fully and experienced what it means to be a human being. Joseph Campbell put in this way: "I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive."

I think that happiness is  not enough for us as human beings. I believe we also want to find meaning. If happiness is about the day-to-day experience of contentment and joy, meaning is about the sense that one's life has purpose. We want, most of all, to know that it mattered we were here, to find a reason for being alive. I believe that we become wise by listening to other's stories. I have heard it said that "wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk." Knowing the reason tho is not enough. We all know things that we don't put into practice: exercise is good for us, eating a balanced diet can lead to good health, smoking is bad for our health, relationships matter more then things, and so forth. Yet, many of us live life not practicing the "wisdom" we already have.

So what gives us meaning and purpose and how do we practice it?
I believe there is one such secret, and it is the first thing we must discover about life if we are to live wisely.
You have to follow your heart, you have to be true to your own self, your have to know who you are and why you are here and you have to know what matters to you. What separates those who live well and die happy from most of us is that they continually ask themselves whether they are living the life they want to live and following their heart toward the answer. The first secret is to be true to you, to your self and live with intention.


Namaste my friends