When we spend our lives merely surviving, life can start to seem a little empty and pointless. Nevertheless, this is exactly how many of us live: we work for eight hours or more a day and then we come home feeling too tired and exhausted to do much of anything with our time. So, we sit and watch TV.
The same thing repeats and repeats and the most excitement we have is a holiday once a year to look forward to. Is that really living?
Here are four simple changes that can make your life more meaningful:
Learning
Constantly learning is a great way to give life more meaning and direction. Ultimately, one of the things that the brain craves most is growth. If it isn’t challenged to learn and grow, then it will shrink and we will become set in our ways.
Make it your job to constantly be learning new skills and pursuits. That can be related to your career, a hobby, or even a new language! Read a book about a topic that you didn’t know. Recently I’ve been completely immersed in this book called, “A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years” by the author Diarmaid MacCulloch and I cannot believe of this book has enriched my view on the church and religion in general.
Try out new things, if you have a skill such as coding, website design or anything really, you can set up a profile on some freelancer website such as Fiverr or Freelancer.com and get paid to both do and practice this skill.
Relationships
Likewise, relationships are one of the things that we really need to be happy. If you don’t have meaningful relationships, then you’ll have no one to share your experiences, your challenges and your triumphs with.
A truly ‘meaningful’ relationship goes beyond friends of friends that you only ever meet in a group. This is someone that you can have a deep heart-to-heart with and who has a long and storied history with you.
Go out and meet 3 new people. Keep in touch will them and meet up with them again for a coffee or whatever. Get back in touch with your old friends from high school or university. Get back in touch with that family member that you barely speak to. Try your best to both cultivate your old relationships and form new ones as well.
Pro tip: You can download certain apps to help you meet new people in your city such as Bumble BFF, just be careful and always as people for their social media information so you can see if they are legit.
Challenge
What’s also necessary for life to feel meaningful is challenge and to some extent, risk.
Have you ever been in a situation that was truly life and death? Or perhaps that put you in a situation where you were close to accomplishing something truly amazing?
These are the moments that the brain focusses and engages with the world. These are the moments when we learn and when we realize the worth of what we have. It puts things in perspective and creates stories. Don’t shy away from the things that test you!
Travel
Finally, everyone should seek to have some travel in their lives. This doesn’t mean you have to backpack across the dessert – but simply being able to experience new sights and new people is important to keep your mind open and your experiences varied. If you don’t have the budget to go away, then come up with an adventure you can enjoy a little closer to home.
In conclusion life is full of meaning. Life is full of ups and downs as well. Some days completely suck, but every single day has the potential to become the best day of your life. Try new things. Meet new people. Go out to new places. Push yourself past your boundaries each day and you’ll see the change in your life.