"Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something. The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them together into that pattern that will be your life. Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you. If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account." John Gardner
This quote touched me when I read it in the book, "Fish!" by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul & John Christensen (www.fishphilosophy.com). I spent much of 2009 contemplating and clarifying the meaning behind a huge miscommunication and upset within one of my business partnerships. As I examined my beliefs, attitudes and values, and had open, honest conversations with my partners, I became clearer about the meaning I choose to create in my life during 2010 and beyond.
I now pay closer attention to the conversations I have with others. I make time to visualize my own dreams and goals. I connect with Nature in ways that support me in being fully present in my life moment to moment. I'm noticing that while I have multiple things going on in my life that many would label as 'overwhelming,' I am experiencing them as stimulating and manageable. I attribute that to the new meaning of 'presence' I've assigned to my life.
What's the meaning you currently seek in your own life?
Posted via web from amorahross's posterous