What is Meaningful to YOU

Friday, yay! I've made it through the first week of school and it has been good! Now I get to enjoy a four day weekend. 

Sometimes I find myself so trapped in what is meaningful to others that I forget that it isn't meaningful to me. Take for example, traveling. So many thrive on the idea of travel. For many years, I've tried to believe that I too love travel. It took me many years to realize that I don't think I actually like traveling the way other people do. My idea of a great vacation is relaxing a lot, reading a lot, eating good food, and being around people I love. Whether that's in my own home or a thousand miles away doesn't matter all that much to me. 

It's easy to get swept away with whatever is popular to do. You think, everyone loves such and such, I need to love it too. Everyone loves this book that is so boring, what's wrong with me? Everyone is doing so and so, I need to do it too! 

I need to step back and realize that just because it matters to someone else does not mean that it has to matter to me. My life needs to be filled with meaning and purpose, but it needs to be my meaning and purpose. Whether it's in the big things, like the job you do, or the small things, like what type of music you listen to, make sure that you don't pursue life according to someone else's passions. 

This has changed my life a lot because it's helped me realize that I need to stop doing things just because it's "the thing" to do. Whether it's listening to music I don't actually like, reading books that I think are stupid, or pursuing goals that don't mean anything to me, I'm working on defining my own meaningful life. 

Take a moment to reflect on what is truly meaningful to you. It might be something that everyone else thinks is weird. But find it! Find what makes you feel fulfilled and purposeful. In the big things AND the little things. Don't do it because it's popular, do it because it's what you love.