5 Ways to Add Meaning And Make Your Life Worth Living

Imagine you’re eighty years old. You have diligently worked all your life to pay the bills and take care of your family. And now, your days go by watching TV, taking medicines, and wondering why your grandchildren won’t get off the phone and talk to you.
You often catch yourself saying:

“Something is missing. How does my life matter? Is life really worth living?”.

You could have chosen to do the things you wanted. But that time will never come back. You have to make peace with the fact that, you played it safe and never sought to make your life worth living.

The Truth About Regret

We need to deal with the pain of regret or the pain of leaving our comfort zone. The latter is temporary, the former is permanent. Once you make a firm decision to work on yourself and stop taking life for granted, your life will become much more meaningful.

Ready?

Here are the 7 ways you make your life worth living, and avoid any regrets when your time comes:

1.  Take the Time to Know Yourself

Self-awareness is very important for happiness in every area of your life. When you know your emotions, desires, character, and goals, it is easier to move forward.

Ask yourself, have you taken the time to find your purpose? You don’t have to think too far ahead. Keep a journal to know what your values are and what really matters to you.

I Didn’t Come This Far To Only Come This Far (Motivational Video – THE JOURNEY):

2.  Work on Meaningful Goals

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychologist, believes that people don’t feel the happiest in their passive, sitting-back-and-eating-popcorn moments.

He answered the most pressing question of our times: What makes your life worth living?

According to him,

“ The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”

Once you know yourself, create a vision for your life, a vision that inspires you to get out of bed in the morning. Then work on daily goals that move you closer to that vision.

‘Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.’ – Albert Einstein

3. Give to Receive

“The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships.” – Tony Robbins

This quote by Tony Robbins shows that in order to enjoy life and feel alive, we need to nurture our relationships. You need people who accept you with all the imperfections. To have such relationships, start giving. Call your old friends, plan a meet-up, do something special for your best friend or spouse.

You can also give back to a greater cause. Psychologists have proved that volunteering for nonprofit organizations can make your life worth living. Every person can make a difference in others’ lives in some way or the other. The famous actor Denzel Washington said,

“It’s not how much you have, it’s what you do with what you have that makes the difference.” – Denzel Washington

4. Immerse Yourself in Everything You Do

Mihaly also mentions that the best moments of our lives are when we are in a state of flow. In flow, all of our attention is focused on a single task,
This leads to a remarkable insight.

If you want to have more meaning in your life, stop dabbling, and immerse yourself in everything you do. Treat your work like an art, and look at yourself as a craftsman.

Is there a word more passionate than passion? Obsession, total immersion, the feeling that everything else doesn’t matter. – Cynthia Ozick

When you’re with people, be genuinely interested in what’s going on in their lives and listen empathetically, not only the words but also the feelings. Most people just wait for their turn to speak. Being connected to people heart-to-heart makes your life worth living.

5. Forgive Everyone You Hate

If you want to feel alive, you need to let go of that ugly weeds you planted a long time ago. Whether it is your boss (he still pays you!) or your college bully, you need to forgive everyone you feel intense hate towards.

Why? Because hate eats you alive one day at a time. It sucks you dry of enthusiasm. And you know that you don’t want to become hollow inside.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” – Mahatma Gandhi

As a matter of fact, seven days of forgiving your worst enemy is equal to practicing 40 years of meditation [1].

What the monks achieved in 40 years, you can have in 7 days. F***ing amazing, right?!

If this doesn’t make your life worth living, nothing else will.