The Meaning of Life with Dr. Bob

Something was on television about the Meaning of Life and my wife made a comment about it. Bang! It truly hit me like a bolt from the blue. That’s what I ought to do next! You, dear reader, will either accept or reject what I have to say. I’ll be fine with either.

I have a few credentials. I hold an earned doctorate called the Doctor Of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton Ohio. I spent over 38 years as a practicing professional Life Coach, before that title had any real vogue in our language. During those years, almost every sort of human challenge walked through my door. I have done much personal study on the subject of self-esteem and subjects related to that topic. So there you have it. Let’s see what we can make of this subject, I Know the Meaning of Life: To Be Happy.

One of the first questions that comes up when people meet each other is, “What do you do?” It is a legitimate way of getting to know someone else. The work they do helps to define them. Nothing wrong with the question “What you do?” But is who you are defined solely by your work? Do you want to be defined solely by your work? Don’t you have more than one dimension?

I remember being defined by the term “clergy.” (I now use the term Life Coach as it fits better with me and the social media climate of the Internet.) As soon as someone received information from that label, their behavior toward me invariably change. Because I had seen this change very often, I was careful to avoid, early in the conversation, the fact that I was clergy. I have seen people change into someone else too often. But sooner or later they got around to asking what I did. I would tell them and they would change.

Like the “Transformers” in cartoons and movies, I could almost hear the machine reprogramming within their personality. Sometimes they would even say aloud something like, “Oh, I better watch my language.” Some were made so uncomfortable by learning of my profession that they made their excuses as quickly as possible and “disappeared.”

But I am more than I do. You are more than you do. You are who you BE. I am who I be. Remember, we are examining the part of the title that says “to be.” I mean I “be” much more than a Life Coach. You “be” much more than what you do. I have met many “stay-at-home moms” who are passionate about not being defined as only “moms.” They want to be so much more than that. They also play the piano. Or paint. Or sing. On the other hand, I’ve met many women who work outside the home and are also mothers. They made sure in no uncertain terms that I knew that their job did not define them.

We will continue to explore more of the Meaning of Life: To Be Happy as the these blog posts move forward. “Stay tuned.”

I recommend The Barking Unicorn. It is an excellent and interesting blog.

Most people try to make happiness flow into their lives and thereby find the meaning of life. The real secret to being secure in the meaning of life is to have your life flow out of your happiness.

How dare I! What an audacious misbegotten person I must be. How can I claim to know the meaning of life when I have some credentials, but not many. I must be some arrogant fool deluded by some foul substance which I must take on a regular basis. Or my childhood must have been so messed up that I’m some kind of lunatic. Or not.

I have told the story of one of my trainee’s asking the question, “Why are we here?” The short version is that I answered, “To be happy.” He thought for a moment and said, “Too easy.” And walked away. In a manner of speaking, I walked away from the idea as well. Dismissed it. But in the intervening years, I have revised my thinking. Much experience and study have gone through my life since that incident with the trainee. For me, as audacious as it may to others, I thoroughly and firmly believe that “to be happy” IS the meaning of life.

But I suspect that you, my dear reader, are here at this blog for a reason. You are looking for the meaning of life as well. I believe you have come a right place. Please noticed that I said “a” right place. This meaning of life, “to be happy,” is for me correct. I hope you find it so as well. But it will not be for everyone. (Indeed, it is my opinion that of someone says he has the right answer for everyone all the time, you need to RUN from that person as fast as you can, either metaphorically or literally. No one can possess the exact knowledge or way for everyone else.)

But the real secret to life is to find happiness within and then let it flow out to shape you substantive world experience for you. You will shape for yourself the meaning of life.

(I apologize if you have read this blog before. A while back, I accidentally blow my blog off the Internet. Had to start all over again.)

I recommend The Barking Unicorn. It is an excellent and interesting blog.

I don’t want anyone to get the impression that “to be happy” as the meaning of life is an oversimplification. The idea of “to be happy” is like a many faceted jewel. Each facet is essential to the brilliance and flash of the jewel. If one facet was overlooked and not polished to its maximum, the whole jewel would suffer. It would be less than it could be.

First, for example, we would need to explore together the words “to be.” “To be or not to be,” from Shakespeare, is one of the most famous of all phrases developed around the idea of “to be.” And it is a real challenge for every human being. Whether we will simply wade through this world waiting for the end or shall we BE. What I mean by that is to be conscious of oneself and of one’s world. I think you might be amazed at how many people wade through life totally unconscious of what is “swirling around their knees.” I often think that they think it is nothing more to life than sunrise, sunset, one day after the other, endless monotony. Even the challenges or problems of their lives begin to make up part of the monotony. “To be” means to awaken; to know what’s going on in your mind and spirit and how that relates to what’s going on in your world.

“To be” means to get hold of yourself and understand WHO you are. It means to get away from defining yourself as what you do. Now I do not mean to belittle what you do at all. Your occupation or vocation or job is important to you and important to your community. But it is not who you really are. Who you really are is much larger and grander than what you do. And I mean this sincerely whether you are a trash collector or a CEO of a large corporation or something in between. For if your occupation were suddenly taken from you, for whatever reason, what would you have left? Who would you be? What would your reason for being be?

These are ideas and questions that need pondering by everyone. Man, this sounds pretentious sometimes. I certainly do not mean to suggest that we have “airs” of any kind. But it’s a profound subject and one very worthy of your attention. So, I hope to give it depth and weight and I hope you’ll forgive anything that sounds pretentious.

(I apologize if you have read this blog before. A while back, I accidentally blow my blog off the Internet. Had to start all over again.)

I recommend The Barking Unicorn. It is an excellent and interesting blog.