How to Create a Meaningful Life

A week ago, I got the BIG life question that every parent gets from their child at some point. I have to admit I am not sure if I was ready to explain how to create a meaningful life to my teenage son but I was thrilled he asked this question.

“Mom what’s the point of life?”

This is a question many of us struggle with personally and now I was expected to explain it to my son! My answer could not have been text book: “To have a happy life son.”

But is that answer? Did I do the right thing as a parent with this text book answer? People search for the answer on Google, they ask Siri, they look for it in videos on YouTube– they look for the answers in others. We seem to have fallen into the process of  measuring our life based on how much money is made, how big our home is or the brand of car we drive. Recently we measure our meaning by how many likes, how many followers and how many views we receive on social media.  At the end of the day – at the end of our life –  we can’t take any of these metrics with us so my answer instead was:

“To live a meaningful life son.”

But HOW do you create a meaningful life?

Bring in the researchers! They have spent the time and energy studying this topic for years. They have asked the question what is a happy life vs a meaningful life. They have observed, and learned from human behavior and experience  and have concluded that  People derive meaningfulness from helping others— by being a “giver”

If you want to have a meaningful life – you need to give. If you want to create happiness in your life – you need to give. It doesn’t matter which country you live in, which religion you practice, the colour of your skin or your gender. The human race is connected by this action to build a meaningful life – to give is human and will build a meaningful and happy life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology research paper  

Ask yourself these questions.

• What is your living legacy? What do you want your living legacy to be?
• How will you be remembered by the way you made people feel?
• What seeds did you plant to move the world forward in a positive way for generations to come.

Don’t wait for the end of your life to look back trying to answer the big question “Why was I here?” Move forward knowing you are creating the answer right now.

We are here to get you started today. It’s as easy as 1,2,3 to get your giving ripple going.  Read these articles from our blog to start your giving journey that will lead to a meaningful, happy life.

22 Small Acts of Giving That Increase Happiness

10 Animal Gives the Will Make You Happy 

7 Ways to Make A Bottle of Water Your Daily Give

Join our giving community today and commit to making your life one of meaning to yourself and others 1 give, 1 day at a time.