Toward meaningful life

Picture credit to: flatrock.org.nz

This article is meant for those who are searching meaning in life. Maybe you already graduated from a prestigious institution, landed a good job. You earn good money, and can provide your family enough. But yet, there is a small spot inside your heart longing for meaning. All that you already have seems cannot satisfy the needs, it kept you awake at night. What was the thing that really missing?

You need a cause.

There are causes for everything, it is the reason for existence. For example, a pencil. The need for human to write cause the pencil into existence, this is the reason why we have pencils. But if, say that all people can write using keyboard and want to write using keyboard, then pencil will cease from existence. It cease because it no longer has a reason to exist.

Then come you. You are much more tricky than pencil. You have emotion, talent, means of communication, you can think. But fundamentally, it is the same.  You exist, thus you need a reason for existence. Or we shall term it as cause for human. Actually the need, something that you felt missing from your life is a psychological thing. To satisfy that psychological void, you should have a cause in life, one that does not related to material things. The cause that will satisfy your void is by giving service to other people.

Do you still remember the feeling when you give something without expecting something back? When you offer to help your teacher carry his/her book? When you stop your car and give way for a pedestrian to pass? When you help your junior solving math? When they accept your help, they smile, and thank you, suddenly wonderfulness fill your tummy. You felt better, you felt that people can rely on you. You feel great. It is by giving, and providing service to others that we will feel fulfilled.

One way of giving is enabling the less unfortunate part in our society to have better education. In other words, be a volunteer, teach the kids, our future generation. You will find that the void in you ceasing fast, you will find meaning when you look them in the eyes. You will overwhelm with happiness when you knew you contribute to their success. You feel more humane. You contribute to the betterment of the world. A great historian, Howard Zinn once said ‘I had a modest goal when I became a teacher. I wanted to change the World’, and that exactly what teacher does. They change the world.

Teaching is one part of it, that you might feel useful. If it does not suit you there are tones more way to give and contribute to society. You can donate blood, run a charitable event for the orphans, feed the homeless and etc. But bear in mind, it has to be a constant, otherwise the void will reappear.

So when you can’t sleep at night in the weekend after a busy tired week, you ended up staring at the ceiling. Ask the question, what was the one thing that I can give to my society. Think deeply. Once the sun shine the light in the next morning, change your midnight thought to action. Go out and contribute. Fill that void. Live meaningfully.