As Grace Hansen says, "Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin." Regrets are signposts to where your life hasn't begun yet.
A truly meaningful life has these characteristics:
1.) You set your priorities by what you CAN'T take with you.
You know that you can't take wealth, popularity, education, or society's idea of perfection with you past the grave. What you CAN take with you are loving, faithful relationships, whether brief or enduring.
Barbara Bush says "At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent."
2.) Your meaningful life is your own, not someone else's. God has created us all as complete individuals, with different gifts and different road maps for our lives. The Dalai Lama says "People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost."
3.) Recognize what all meaningful lives have in common: Being Humble, Being Real, Being Able to Share Ourselves, Being Able to Touch the Lives of Others. All these characteristics are necessary for building loving, faithful relationships, which give our lives their most meaning and fulfillment..
HUMILITY is the virtue of standing with people, not above them, because you see both your faults and your merits through God's eyes, not your own. A humble person thinks of others before he/she thinks of him/her self. It is the foundation of our relationship with God and others.
BEING REAL builds on being humble, because if we're humble, we recognize that our virtues and faults are part of the universal human condition. So we can be real - our genuine selves - with others because whatever we share with others about ourselves will immediately resonate with them. They've experienced similar quirks, flaws, flops, and successes in their own lives.
BEING ABLE TO SHARE OURSELVES: If we're Real, we can share ourselves with others because we're vulnerable. "Just have the courage to be sincere, open, and honest," says Sara Paddison. "This opens the door to deeper communication all around....Speaking from the heart frees us from the secrets that burden us. These secrets are what make us sick or fearful."
We also share ourselves with others through using our unique creative gifts in the arts and the sciences. If we are creative about life, we don't over-organize our lives: we are open each morning to new insights, new experiences. We say "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening," and then stay aware of the promise in each moment. "Each day is a new canvas to paint upon. Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness..." (Unknown.)
BEING ABLE TO TOUCH THE LIVES OF OTHERS: "A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not marble." (Charles H. Spurgeon.)
I will add one more characteristic of a happy and fulfilled life: 4. Gazing in wonder at the Gift of Life itself. Whether we are suffering, risking, loving, giving, or losing, our life is a one-time, sacred experience, meant to teach us, refine us, and prepare us for eternity. Betty Smith understands thIs awe-filled gaze. She says: "Look at everything as if you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory."
"Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked...Rather the Law of the Lord is their joy....They are like a tree planted near streams of water, that yields its fruit in due season; its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers." Psalm 1.
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