30 Ways to Add Meaning to Your Life

We live in a world of chaos and confusion. Most of us want meaning and moral structure in our lives.  Most of the depression that has descended to the world is a result of people lacking meaning.

In times gone by, daily life may have been a struggle but life was meaningful. Today, while life may be laden with creature comforts, never has there been a time in which meaning has been so difficult to find.  Here is a list of 30 meaningful activities you can get started on today.  Choose a few, don’t get overwhelmed).

1. Volunteer your time.
2. Turn off your television and computer for at least an hour every waking day.
3. Read meaningful literature.
4. Take the words you speak seriously.
5. Make your words matter.
6. Spend time with people you care about.
7. Be open to making new friends with people very different from yourself.
8. Listen to the words of others.
9. Pray.
10. Meditate.
11. Spend time touching base with yourself on a frequent basis.
12. Spend time touching base with your family on a frequent basis.
13. Spend time in nature.
14. The written word is powerful, write and make your writing matter.
15. Act in ways that are congruent to your moral values and conscience.
16. Get comfortable being with your pain and the pain of others.
17. Get ample rest and relaxation.
18. Eat a well balanced diet.
19. Get ample exercise.
20. Live within your means, yet do not let your means define you.
21. Do for others.
22. Allow others to do for you.
23. Don’t be apathetic or indifferent.
24. Take initiative.
25. Live with passion.
26. Live with purpose.
27. Live with integrity.
28. Laugh.
29. Dance.
30. Learn.

While the daily chores of life may at times be unpleasant, if our lives posses meaning, we can tolerate a great deal of frustration, take for example Martin Luther King Jr. or Nelson Mandela.  Their lives were full of obstacles but having meaningful lives, they were able to overcome the seemingly impossible.  So to with each of us. By living meaningful lives, we are able to overcome the seemingly impossible obstacles life throws our way.