How To Effortlessly Find The Meaning Of Life
When was the last time you seriously asked yourself...
What is the meaning of life?
What is my purpose?
Why am I here?
I used to sit and try to work out what the meaning of life was.
With my intellect, of course.
I used to get frustrated that I couldn't 'figure it out'.
But what happens when you try to figure it out or find it?
You only push the true meaning further and further away.
We are in the midst of a 'meaning crisis'.
In 2024 there are approx 8.1 billion humans on the earth.
At first glance this seems like a huge number. Which it is.
But consider this:
There's around 56 million deaths per year.
That means that:
150,000 people will die TODAY.
6,000 in the next hour
106 every minute
and nearly 2 deaths every second
Even contemplating the fact that you will indeed die, can let you immediately experience what it means to be alive... which is... wait for it...
To be ALIVE.
Okay cool, I'm alive. So is everyone.
Sure... BUT
If you really look into the probability of you coming into existence and being alive in this very moment
- this will utterly blow your mind -
you'll find its a fraction above 0.
What does that number look like?
yes, that's a 10 followed by 2,685,000 zeroes.
You can click the link if you want to see how its calculated.
“That probability is the same as if you handed out 2 million dice, each dice with one trillion sides… then rolled those 2 million dice and had them all land on 439,505,270,846.”
So yeah, basically zero.
Welcome to the wave - a newsletter designed to open your mind 3.33% at a time.
On top of that, think about it, in the billions of years of evolution:
- There has NEVER been anyone or anything with your exact DNA in existence.
- You are literally unique.
There has never been anyone with your exact birth, upbringing and life experiences. No one. Ever.
This should send waves of electro-chemicals through your body.
And you're not just alive, but you are Conscious. You are aware that you are alive.
“If it’s not enough that you’re here, alive & able to be consciously aware of that, you may just be missing the point” ~ The Void
You, my friend, posses the gift of life. This is genuinely something to celebrate
every.
single.
day.
My question to you, are you celebrating it?
The fact you woke up today is already a miracle.
It's somehow normalized to not see this AS A HUGE DEAL.
How wild is that?
I was sitting having lunch with some co-workers at my old job, and I asked them ''how often do you think about the fact that you are alive and experience life'' ?
They all looked at me and laughed.
Fair enough.
But it also shines a light on the fact that its become normalized to be alive and not remember what it means to be alive... to slow down and appreciate the gift and meaning of life every day.
You can get so consumed by the future sometimes. You're working on projects, goals, dreams - which is great - but not so great when all you want to do is make the future come around.
You always think some other moment, later, will bring more fulfilment and happiness:
once you've travelled to this place
taken that epic vacation or sabbatical
once you've achieved or accomplished this or that
once you've got the promotion at work
or the nicer apartment
or moved to that cooler city...
then life will suddenly be better and you'll be happier then.
In reality that's never coming. You only have Now.
The external experiences and validation never matter. It always depends on your internal awareness.
If you keep putting off life to eventually find meaning, you'll never find it.
And if you search too hard, you'll never find it.
You're missing the point entirely. Just like I did when I tried to work it all out with my mind.
The point is to be alive and tap into this life force.
Nothing will ever bring you more fulfilment than having a deep sense of awareness of existence in the present moment.
And you can't force this, or think your way into it. You can only directly experience it with your being, your higher Self.
If I heard myself saying this some years ago I would have laughed in my face too.
But once you get a glimpse of the true beauty and meaning in what it really means to be alive - it changes everything. Your perspective on life fundamentally shifts.
To feel and experience what it means to be a life force, not just a human.
In the end yes you're a human. But what runs through you and animates your life and all the life around you?
Beyond being a human you are actually just life force energy.
Consciousness.
You happen to be living in and inhabiting a complex nervous system.
At its core - you are interconnected to everything, at all times, everywhere. You are part of the web of life.
The prison that keeps us from seeing reality
So many people are trapped in the cage of their mind.
They're so engrossed in the content of their mind, thoughts, and emotions - that they miss the very point - which is life itself.
To not acknowledge the fact that you are alive every day, means you are missing out on the purpose of your existence.
It's genuinely a blessing. A blessing that can add firepower to your life every day.
Take this firepower around with you and you will make the world a better place:
- just by being you.
So even when things seem hopeless - you can always find meaning.
Are you waking up and your first thought is to be grateful to be alive and have another day on earth? I found this practice in Jay Shetty's 'Think Like A Monk'' book.
It takes a little getting used to, and consistent practice - but once developed its a powerful habit.
In no time, as soon as your eyes open from sleeping, your mind will automatically think:
'Thank you for this gift of life, I am grateful to be alive for another day'
in the first 30-60 seconds of being awake. This is a game changer.
Creating Meaning
How on earth could all of this exist, and there be no meaning behind it?
The meaning of life can be very simple, or very complex. That is up to you. No one can answer that question but yourself.
But, it can always help to have some context and pointers to open your mind in a way which allows you to start thinking about it.
Because if you're not thinking about it:
- you're missing out on what it means to be human.
- the ability to not only be alive, but to be aware that you are alive.
Going further, you'll never be able to think your way into an answer with your intellect or ego.
It's something that can only come from direct experience, from a part of you that goes far beyond:
- your mind
- everyday thoughts
- habits
- and behaviors.
To experience this, you ultimately need to learn how to quiet your mind and experience who and what you really are -
Consciousness.
Lost in the mind...
People are so entangled in the mind, that they've lost touch with who they really are.
What are your core life values? Could you write them down right now?
Do you live by them every day and have evidence to show for it?
You have an internal radar. It is actually very strong. But this signal can be dampened by:
the mind
by the chaos of modern day life
social media
technology
hedonism
This signal - a sort of heart based intelligence and innate wisdom - gives you direction of your purpose.
It's a sort of wisdom that you can tap into at any moment, every day.
But to hear the signal, to feel the impulse of this wisdom, we have to go beyond the mind.
And the difficult thing is: it's very easy to get tangled up in the mind.
When you're tangled:
- you can't get beyond it.
It's impossible.
When you're so identified with your mind, it's hard to have any spaciousness to experience who and what you are beyond your thoughts and emotions.
That's why finding practices to quiet your mind are so incredibly helpful to understanding:
- who you are
- what your unique purpose is
- and what helps you find and create meaning in your life.
I've experimented with a lot of altered states of consciousness to learn about my mind, and how to expand, contract and quiet it.
It's safe to say, the most natural and sustainable way of expansion is through a daily meditation practice.
I almost can't believe looking back at my life before daily meditation - how I experienced the world.
I was so caught up and identified with my mind and emotions.
And hey, I've been extremely privileged and had an amazing life. I've loved every moment - the ups and the downs. It's all apart of our curriculum of life.
But before learning how to quiet my mind - I was missing a lot of the meaning in life. I was missing a lot of the present moment.
I also didn't have the awareness and tools to create meaning the way I do now.
And of course I still get caught up. Every day. I lose it.
It's a never ending process of forgetting, then remembering.
And it gets easier with time. And patience. And trust.
But I find fortitude in having a daily practice that helps to quiet my mind and restores me to my balanced Self.
In this state, I can tap into that internal radar and follow it.
To a state where I am aware I'm alive. A state where I can see the meaning of life is unfolding in front of my eyes in every moment.
And then I lose it again.
And then I can look into, why did I lose it?
Then I can come back, again, and again.
“Your entire life is a curriculum. Everything you've got on your plate is where the stuff for your enlightenment is. It’s breathtaking when you see the beauty of this design.”
-Ram Dass
This sense of inner awareness is the most beautiful and profound experience - and it lays dormant in every single one of us until it's awakened.
I'm not saying if you don't meditate you don't experience this.
Of course you do.
But when you've experienced this - you didn't bring it about with intention and on purpose.
It just happened randomly, and you couldn't do it again if you tried. Maybe you didn't even know what brought it about.
From my own personal experience, it's not as often, and it's not as strong. It's not as deep.
It's like you're only half awake to what life has to offer. It's like you've woken up from a hard hitting nap and you're not quite there.
There's meaning, but its not clear.
The tool that opens up life to another level
Learning to meditate is actually very simple, it's easy.
Why you've struggled so far is because its difficult to override the habit of not meditating every day.
and:
- you've been trying too hard
- you're fighting with your mind
- you don't know what to do with all of your thoughts
No. 3 - (there's that too... but that's way easier to fix than the habit formation).
Building a new daily habit is difficult and most people get stuck with it.
That's why I built a meditation course - I've taken everything I've learned that I wish I knew when I started my journey and put it together in a way that is practical and enjoyable for people who are interested in drastically improving their lives.
You can join the waitlist and share your interest here.
It will be launching in Fall 2024, when I'm back from India/Nepal.
The reason I think what I've built will blow anything else you've tried out the water - is because:
- I've taken the latest scientific research and insights into human behavior change,
- and habit formation
- and weaved it inside out of the course curriculum.
This makes it so easy, it's impossible to fail with meditation.
So, case in point, meditation - and other ways to quiet your mind - awakens the meaning of life within you.
Purpose = Happiness
Lastly, the latest studies into the science of happiness from Harvard show something extremely interesting.
Happiness is a direction in life - not a destination. It's not an emotion or a feeling. It's something you work on throughout your existence, becoming happier and happier.
You do not 'arrive' at a destination of happiness. It's the process itself.
That direction is made up of balancing these 3 key elements to Happiness:
Purpose
Satisfaction
Enjoyment
Therefore if you're living your life with a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment (which a lot of people focus on and spend most of their life trying to do) but neglect purpose, it means you will never experience the full picture of true happiness.
Purpose is a key ingredient to happiness.
Hence the question, what is your purpose, what is the meaning of life?
Like I said earlier, I can't tell you what the answer is. I also don't know the answer. As if there is 'one answer'.
But, considering the chances of you being alive are almost 0, the meaning of life is to be alive.
To be you. To find out who you really are.
To understand your strengths, your interests, values, and bring that unique mix on ingredients into the world - no matter how big or small - you make a difference.
Take your unique being into the world, share your passions and embody your purpose by leaving the world in a better place than you entered it.
Not only do you get to be alive.
You get to experience the force of the universe - an energy greater than any other in existence.
Love.
It's all Love.
A deep love that goes beyond any intellectual definition.
A love of life.
''Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another''.
-Thomas Merton
Anything else is just a cherry on top - a lottery ticket that you have won that you get to be right here, right now.
You are human, and you get to experience human life.
The whole spectrum.
Blissful ecstasy and unconditional love - all the way to the deepest sorrow, suffering and heart breaking grief. It is all part of the human experience.
Feeling the warm sun on your face, the wind around your body or rain on your skin are all meaning miracles, we just have to be open and aware of them to experience it.
The colors of a beautiful flower, the twinkle in a newborns eyes (shoutout Nara, I love you), staring at the waves in the ocean.
What is your version? Where can you look today to find and experience meaning?
To be present in the here and now and find meaning in every moment - the meaning is to be present, to Be Here Now.
Don't go searching for meaning
Don't search for it. Just focus on the inner work, focus on learning how to quiet your mind.
The true art comes in recognizing what you have to be grateful for, being present, and enjoying the ride.
While pursuing your goals, dreams, purpose, and bringing your dream vision into reality.
When you do this, the meaning of life comes through you. You don't even need to try. You just be you.
Do you want to learn an effortless, easy tool that helps to quiet your mind and finally unlock meditation? A tool that connects you to the highest version of yourself?
It's a meditation technique like no other you have tried and failed with before.
There is no focus, visualizations or concentration involved. No sitting cross legged on a yoga mat, either.
Join the waitlist for Omala Online here.
Are you looking to upgrade your quality of life completely?
I can help you understand your values, build them into your life, form new positive habits, and drop the old negative ones.
All while crafting your life vision and making it a reality.
Schedule a 30 minute discovery call with me here for more details about 1:1 transformation coaching.
This is 3-6 month program in helping you step into your full potential and living a life of fulfilment and purpose.
And if you want to learn a bit more about meditation, have a look at this.
Much love,
Robbie
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