A life of meaning

I have always sought to live a life of meaning. I have always felt that "meaning" is the secret of life. A meaningful life brings us joy and health. 

Embedded in my life of meaning are my values. I believe it is essential to reflect on your values and be aware of how your value system dictates your choices and behaviors. A deeper exploration and sharing of our core values can bring us closer together. Happiness and health are the result of living by our core values. 

My growth process has been cultivated by disappointments, losses, and some degree of trauma. I have also been blessed to be surrounded by great love. I have grown through the death of my best friend at 18 years old. I was witness to his slow and painful death from pancreatic cancer. I was traumatized by a football injury to my kidneys as a college freshman. Away from home, in a strange hospital, sedated by morphine, I lost around 30 days of my life. The love of my new friend Joe became a lifetime friendship. He told me he visited daily. I don't remember. 

The birth and life of our special needs daughter Ashley has brought me through multiple life and death experiences. It has also brought me to unconditional love. God's love, Sandra's love, and Ashley's unconditional loving presence. It has always been my core values of love and commitment that carried me through. 

Today I notice that some folks say they would like to go back to the way it was. I imagine that means the 1950s. The nostalgia is remembering that the life experience of our parents and our childhood was somehow better than today. What we fail to remember, life, "in those days" didn't give women a voice, minorities were struggling to have a voice, and on many occasions, struggling to stay alive. In our fantasy of the past, it is easy to look the other way. To not see the poverty, racism, and sexism. 

In our climate of cultural unrest, we must reflect on the following:

- Who you are is essentially your core values and how you put into action those core values. 

- We are not defined by the judgments of the outer world; we are not our degrees, bank accounts, cars, or homes. 

- Life has always depended on good people doing what is right for the greater good of all humanity. 

So we all have a job to do. Find your place, find your role, and take compassionate action. Educate, counsel, and heal our children, support the healthcare workers, police, fireman, teachers, and all those on the front lines of caring. 

Our future is asking of us to show up. Show up physically, emotionally, mentally, socially, and spiritually. The goal of life is not happiness. Happiness comes and goes like the weather. Meaning is the key to a fullfilling life.