Bringing Happiness And Meaning Into Our Lives

We achieve happiness and bring meaning and purpose into our lives only as we learn to embrace a higher purpose for our existence; when we learn to expand our worldview beyond our own wants and needs. Meditation teachers, yoga instructors, personal growth coaches, and virtually all mental health counselors echo this same message. The world of an unhappy, depressed, or mentally ill person is very small and restricted; very self-focused.

For some, a higher purpose may mean accepting God. For others it might mean having a driving passion in our life such as feeding the poor, playing golf, fixing up old cars, or getting involved in politics. For others it might mean volunteering at the local hospital or starting a hobby such as stamp collecting, ham radio or learning to play a musical instrument.

Finding a higher purpose and meaning may include some of the goals listed above, but most importantly, it means learning to see ourselves in the context of 14.5 billion years of evolution. Contrary to the belief of the primitive ego that dwells in each of us, we are "not" the final end-product of the evolutionary process in this universe. We must learn to see ourselves as systemically inter-connected with all of creation. We must learn to embrace radical diversity. We must learn that the creative evolutionary process requires deep levels of cooperation among "all" aspects of creation for evolutionary change to take place.

Meaning and purpose as well as happiness only comes when we learn to embrace an evolutionary spirituality; a spiritual intelligence that works "with" the Universal Intelligence that initiated the evolutionary process. When we fight against the evolutionary process we are fighting against the entire universe. It is no wonder we often find ourselves unhappy and depressed.