The Meaning of Life with Dr. Bob

Rico came through my office door exclaiming, “What makes you so happy, Dr. Bob?” Then he sat down.

He was a little angry. I had something he wanted but couldn’t figure out how to get.

I smiled and said, “I’ve got connections.”

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Rico was in his mid-thirties. Though Rico is not his real name, he is Hispanic American. He had a good job and a very nice family. He and his family had been attending our caring community for over three years.

Rico said, “I want those same connections.” He spoke those words as if I were keeping something from him.

“Are you willing to work at them? They don’t come easy, although they are cheap.”

“You know I can work hard.”

“O.K. Here are the three of them: 1. A Connection with The Source of All There Is. 2. A connection with yourself. 3. A connection with others.”

He wasn’t expecting those. But then he leaned forward in his chair just a little, indicating his eagerness.

First, I began to explain, comes a connection with The Source of All There Is. Some call this Source God, but I often find that there is too much harmful baggage to unpack and discard with this word “God.” So I use a less familiar term – The Source of All There Is.

You get in touch with this Source through meditation or prayer. I stick closer to meditation as prayer also can have negative connotations for many folks. I told Rico he needed to develop a meditative life using one of the many forms of meditation.

What would that do for him? This connection would help him find the meaning of his life, which, I believe, is to be happy. You find happiness when you come to understand that The Source accepts you just as you are. Full acceptance and acceptance of your acceptance equals happiness.

You choose to be happy knowing you are accepted. Happiness here is defined as an excellent sense of well-being. Joy, on the other hand, is an emotion that erupts from external events. Happiness is a choice to feel a sense of well-being no matter what is happening in your external world.

This sense of well-being is developed and perpetuated through a connection with The Source of All There Is.

But you do not finished there. You go on to accept yourself just as you are. Yes, we can all improve. But we start just where we are right now. Rich or poor or in between; tall, short or medium; thin or heavy or in between; educated or not; family or single; all these, any of these is just the way you are right now. Accept that.

In other words, make a genuine affirming connection with yourself. Be aware of who you really are. As you are totally and unconditionally accepted by The Source, there is no need to look at yourself as anything else. No matter what you have done or not done, been or not been, said or not said, you affirm yourself just as you are.

Many people find themselves separated from themselves because they feel they are not as perfect as they are supposed to be. Nonsense. You are perfect just the way you are. Yes, improvements may need to be made. But as you are, right now, you are perfectly human.

These two: acceptance from The Source and affirmation of self, lead to a connection with others. Why? You need to express your acceptance and affirmation in the world around you as you interact with others.

Now that you know you are accepted by The Source and you have affirmed yourself, you can see that all others are in the same boat as you whether they realize it or not.

They need to know they are accepted by The Source. They need to know they can affirm themselves just as they are. One of the ways they can discover these is through your actions and words.

How? When you show compassion for others, you have demonstrated acceptance and affirmation. How many people need affirmation and acceptance? That’s right – everyone. You can be one of the instruments to help others. You share your happiness.

When you share it you reinforce happiness within yourself. You reinforce your connection to The Source. You reinforce your self-connection. You reinforce your connection with others as they respond positiviely to your kindness and compassion.

Rico said, “I can do that. I’ll start with the next person I meet.” We parted then but as I saw Rico frequently, he did seem much happier than before we talked together.

You can make these three connections as well. Start now.

This has been Dr. Bob 4 U, and I invite you to change your life for the better by claiming your Free Instant Access to a Force-Source-Resource including a monthly newsletter titled The Force-Source-Resource Newsletter. Just Click Here.

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A subscriber to this blog asked an interesting question. The person said that their act was cleaned up. The destructive pattern in their life was stopped. So much so that many years have passed since last the pattern was relived. Yes, I am being deliberately vague, for two reasons.

The first is so that no one can be identified by the question.

The second is because so many of us, myself included, though we’ve cleaned up our act, still have bad feelings about ourselves. In other words, this blog could apply to many, many people.

How do we begin to feel good about ourselves? And this applies to the meaning of life how?

The meaning of life is to be happy. Obviously, then, if you feel bad about yourself, you are not as happy as you might be. So, let’s start there. After you have made what reparations you can for acts or words that have hurt or harmed in the past, what more can be done to feel good? You have repaired as much as is possible on the outside, now you need to look inside.

This involves finding your own innate goodness. Yes, I said innate goodness. You are a part of the Universe. The Universe is inherently good. I

Feeling Good (by ROXIERIDER at Flickr.com/photos/roxierider)

say this because I believe that the Universe is Love made visible. If this is so, and you are part of the Universe, then you are inherently Love. Love is Good. I base my thoughts not just on belief but on science. There seems to be a Charge of Life that makes the Universe work. The Universe is perpetually remaking Itself. In the Remaking there can only be the motive of Creation. Something sees Itself as needful of being visible. Only something that sees Itself as Good can create Life, in my view. Whew! Allow me to leave it at that. Any more might distract from the real question of how to feel good about one’s self.

So, you are inherently Love. But where do you find that Love? Within yourself. It is there, you just have to make contact with It. You do that through meditation. Deliberately calming yourself and making a connection between your self and that Love. Meditation teaches us to let the distractions of life go and center in on Love. Another word for Love, in this case, is happiness. You center down on happiness by making connection with the Creative Consciousness that is the Universe. When you make that connection you feel good about yourself. I know because this is the way I did it. But more than me, wiser ones than I, by far, have said the same throughout the ages of humankind.

So that’s the number one way of feeling good about one’s self. The second is close behind. Find out what in your mental make up is causing you to feel the way you do about yourself. In other words, what beliefs about yourself do you still hold that perpetuate bad feelings? Root those out. Then change those beliefs. This is done by giving value only to what you prize. Your beliefs about anything are only as strong as you make them. Anything only has the value you give it. (When you need further help with this idea, I suggested the you contact the Lefkoe Institute. Internet contact can be made through the link under Websites and Blogs I Recommend in the right hand column.)

Now, don’t think that because I have written less about discovering what beliefs you hold that might be causing bad feelings, that I consider this of lesser importance. It is simply that this post is getting too long. Please check in next post to see further discussion.

In the meantime, I invite you to further understanding of yourself. I ask to you sign up for Free Instant Access to some of my Force-Source-Resources. One of which is titled, “How to Use the Spiritual Circuit to Be a Good Person.” Remember, one bit of information can save you a lifetime of frustration. These resources will change your life. Please sign up now in the upper right hand corner.

The meaning of life proceeds from the abundance of the self. It is out of the abundance of the self that making a lasting contribution to humankind comes. Without a rich and full “being,” “doing” has no backing. It has no container out of which may pour the energy and imagination of effort.

Here are two examples.

Mother Teresa. A woman, small in stature, who went to India to serve. There she served the poorest of the poor as they were dying. With great respect I say that this was a great work. It was a lasting contribution to humankind.

I did not know Mother Teresa personally. All I know of her and her work is what I have read or heard. I just cannot imagine that anyone could keep on the work she did over a period of decades without having some inner resource. “To do” is a working out what’s inside, “to be.” Her “to be” was a connection to what some will name God. Her volition to go on in the face of so much sadness and death could only have come from what was on the interior. Her work could not possibly be sustained if her inner abundance were not strong enough.

I know this because I experienced it. (Second example.) No, I do not compare myself to Mother Teresa. But I do know within myself some of what she experienced. In my professional career as a life coach I had occasion to visit nursing homes on a regular basis. In those nursing homes I would see and converse with persons of great age and sometimes great infirmity. And I tell you that without a strong inner center attached to The Source of All That Is, there was no way I could continue to go to those nursing homes.

Now, please, I’m not talking about the persons themselves that I visited. I am talking about the conditions of their minds and bodies. Too much to internalize. I must give an everlasting respect to health care persons who spend after day working in those nursing homes. Without some kind of inner strength, whatever name you give it, they could not do their work.

Without this sort of inner self-abundance, inner strength, you would miss the meaning of life.

I invite you to have Instant Free Access to a 3 page Force-Source Resource where you can find “more” meaning to life. It even comes with free miniposters. Sign up now in the upper right hand corner.