Some people find meaning in their life through work or family, faith or religion... mindfulness also provides a pathway to discover meaning in your everyday experiences. When we can slow down and savor the details of life - we find significance all around us and connect to life in a vibrant, engaged way.
Mindfulness helps connect us with what matters most in any situation helping to fuel motivation, intention and behavior. Nietzsche wrote: “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” When humans feel purposeful and understand the layers of impact of an action - we can approach our lives with thoughtfulness and measured responses. We take time to soak up the significance of our experiences. We lean into the freedom that comes with intentionally navigating our way through life.
Some questions to consider to bring more awareness to your relationship with the meaning in your life:
Do you know what values are connected to your experiences in life?
What really matters most to you as you engage in conversations, have interactions with colleagues or friends and family?
What is most important as you do daily chores or cross tasks off your to-do list?
Are your values in alignment with how you spend your time?
Is what means most, getting the most attention?
How are you showing up in any experience? Is it how you want to be relating to it?
Mindfulness practice helps us see that we do in fact have a say in how we respond to the moments of our life and what significance we soak up from each experience. We are the protagonist in our story - we get to to take an active, intentional role to make life meaningful.
Victor Frankl in Man's Search for Meaning described this approach to life best.
...It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.
When we slow down and train our brains to pause and be intentional, we have a good shot at gathering meaning in the most unexpected of places.