Anamchara - Living a Meaningful Life

At some stage of living your life you will ask the question "What does it mean to be here?"

You may phrase the question in different ways but the essence of the question is the same. It represents your desire to know what it means to be alive on this earth. The search for meaning has gone on through all time. It has been a question for all the greatest minds and hearts that have graced this earth.

For many of you meaning is found in the work that you do. It is found in one or more of the roles you adopt. This can be the role of employee, mother, father, lover or friend. When these roles end there is a sense of loss. When work life ends for many the heart is broken and dies. Children grow up and leave home. Relationships end and friends come and go.

Placing meaning in activities you do and identify with will give you a false sense of security. Roles come and roles will go. However, without a meaning and purpose your life is only half lived, if at all. Too many people come to the end of their lives and regret that they missed a great opportunity to live to the full.

Each person is required to discover the meaning of his or her life. Meaning is not something that is waiting to be found in a book or from the teachings of another. It is more a flow of process than some fixed idea. It is a feeling moment-to-moment awareness of being present to your experience.

There is a paradox in seeking the meaning of life. The more courageous and focused you are the more illusive meaning becomes.

The search for meaning is told in many great fairy tales. The story of the search for meaning abound throughout the world's cultures. In the West the major story is the search for the Holy Grail. The answer to finding the grail is in asking the right question at the right time. This means entering deeply into the question. It is to become the quest-I-on.

The meaning of life is not fixed.

It is a free flowing experience of knowing who you are in each moment. Those who know who they are live in the eternal now. When you do this there comes a point when you and life are one. You become holy. Then in that moment you know. Your search will be over. You have come to the place of the Grail. You will not be so concerned about the meaning of YOUR life because you will have surrendered to the Beloved. You will have become one with it all. You who are part will become whole.

You will know the meaning of life is simply to be here now.

We can learn more about the meaning of life by watching small children at play. When you ask a child why it is playing a game you often find they get annoyed. They will think you are asking a foolish thing. You are enquiring of them what it means to be playful. They will look puzzled. They can only say they know. To try to explain is to lose the essence of play.

The question of the meaning of life is often approached with a great sense of seriousness. It is asked via the intellect when it can only be felt and known via the heart. The knowing of your life's purpose is an individual act of the highest courage. It is to become a child again. It is to become childlike without the intense separation anxiety you experience when you were little. You return to the garden and know that this is your home.

Allow yourself to play more and do less. Ask great questions and wait. When you do this then "the singing bird will come." This is a phrase I love. It comes from a Chinese proverb. The full proverb is

Keep a green bough
in your heart
and the singing bird
will come.

I leave you with this proverb. It focuses your direction toward meaning via the heart. Keep the sap of your heart knowledge flowing and you will come to know the meaning of your life. Whatever you discover know that you are enough now and forever more.

So be it.

Tony Cuckson is an Anam Cara. This Celtic term means "Soul Friend." He specializes in providing insight for the spiritual journey, Blessings for YOU, words of wisdom and finding inner peace. Visitors to Irish Blessings Matter website and Tony's Blog get the opportunity to develop a purpose driven life through articles, newsletters and other programs.

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