With a title like that, this had better be a good blog post, right?

The first thing that needs to be addressed is the word ‘meaningful’. Here are some things I do not mean when I use this word:

• Exciting. Though there are a lot of things that I do which I find quite exciting on one or multiple levels, there are definitely other things I do which are just as meaningful but lack the excitement.
• Easy. A lot of things that are worth doing are not easy. Also, the word ‘easy’ usually means something that appeals to our fleshly desires. With this understanding, my definition of meaningful would include nothing easy.
• Appreciated by others. It is always nice to feel like others respect you for what you do, but sometimes doing meaningful things will make others think you are weird. Or, they may hate the meaning you have in your life and seek to do you harm.
• Emotionally fulfilling. Something meaningful will produce emotional fulfillment. However, it will almost never be immediate. And since I usually think of an activity as being emotionally fulfilling if I experience this type of fulfillment while doing the activity, this would mean that much of what I define as meaningful would not fit into this category.

I define a meaningful activity as one that I believe will move me closer to the most ideal state of existence. This of necessity would involve eternity. So, perhaps I should retitle this post, How to make everything you do in life eternally meaningful. By definition, this excludes everything done by most atheists as being meaningful (unless you are an atheist that believes in eternity somehow). I am not trying to offend by saying that; this is simply what my definition of meaning requires.

At this point, you must ask yourself this question. Are you 100% confident that what you are doing now will move you closer to the most ideal state of existence in eternity? If so, you need only follow what you already know. However, I’m assuming most of you are like me and not 100% confident, though you do feel like you have some pretty good guesses.

You need to do two things now. First, define in a nutshell what an ideal state of existence would be for you. Obviously, you cannot give a full definition, since you have never experienced this, and can only think about it. However, give it your best shot. My ideal existence would be one where I was living in total health and consciousness forever, and I believe this can only happen when I have an ever-present connection with the eternal YHVH.

Second, lay out a paradigm of how to view time, so you can always be moving towards this goal. You cannot push the pause button in life and figure everything out and then push play and act on your deliberatation. You have to deliberate, think, and plan as you are going through life. You need to create a paradigm of how you manage time in order to do this successfully. The way I solve this is through my paradigm of living in appointed times by faith. See my post on this subject, as well as part 2, part 3, and part 4 if you want to understand what this means.

Everything I do in life is meaningful now that I am following these paradigms. It may not be exciting. It may not be easy. It may not be appreciated by others. It may not be emotionally fulfilling right now. However, it is all eternally meaningful. Please share your thoughts if you have some ideas on meaning that are different than mine. I would love to hear them.