Why Meaning Matters MORE Than Happiness

Recently I attended an Atlanta music festival.  At a festival, fair or in a particular moment you feel happy.  Being fully alive requires some happy times.  I see happy as a good thing and meaningful as a great thing.  I am committed to having a meaningful life and helping others have it too!

Meaningful has many definitions.  I’m referring to “Having a serious, important or useful quality or purpose.” Happiness is defined as the quality or state of being happy.  Another definition is  pleasure; contentment or joy.  They go well together!

A meaningful experience lasts longer and goes deeper into your inner being.  Meaningful means you feel a connection to your past, present and future.  It has a fullness and depth that happiness can’t compete with.  You need a positive perspective and patience.   Happy happens with less work and is over fairly fast.

To feel good about your work you need to have happy moments and a sense of meaning or making a difference.  Meaningful is easy to identify and other times it’s very subtle but possibly more potent and powerful.

How about this… take a few minutes and jot down when you felt happy in the past week or so.  Then think about what is meaningful to you or where you were helpful in a meaningful way.  If nothing comes to mind… no worries… try again later!

Meaningful isn’t connected to results.  It’s an internal feeling.  It happens when you are being present and expressing kind and caring words with a loved one, friend or co-worker.  Meaningful moments are easy to find and don’t take much time.

Make it a habit to have a meaningful moment every day!

MarGO Geller, LCSW

Licensed Counselor and Business, Career, Life Coach

404-218-4559

MarGO@MargoGeller.com

http://MargoGeller.com

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