In your world, right now … is survival trumping meaning? I do understand and it is a painful place to find oneself. But, for me, without meaning survival is too numbing, it simply is not on. That’s not a judging comment but it is a judgment for me comment. Bottom line always is that you have to do what you need to do… just make certain that you need to. That last comment is based on my own experience that sometimes we think we are in a survival situation whether or not we know how we got there. But the reality is that we aren’t there, at least yet.
What is your definition of survival? The obvious ones of basic necessities however have a totally different consideration than what I’m discussing – that would be a different focus. This ‘form’ of survival is not the life or death struggle but it feels as critical as basic need survival. Specifically, what is happening in your world that causes you to believe you are in a survival mode? More important – what part(s) of your life are in survival: job, personal interactions, spiritual walk, etc. Any one of those and others can be in a survival mode issue and not others, thus identifying what is your survival issue is critical. Step 2 is what do you want to do and what can you do about your ‘condition’?
So what and where do you see you are in a survival situation and can’t consider any other definition of your plight? Have you stopped long enough to understand what is going on and how it affects you? Or are you simply reacting? And again, that isn’t criticism it’s identification. Once we begin to sense a survival condition we react – it’s natural and it’s probably the worst thing we can do. Understanding should be, though rarely is, our focus. We really can’t take steps to effectively meet the threat of survival without understanding what is happening. Then we can consider what we want and can do.
However, if you aren’t in a survival condition then I highly recommend you discover and enhance your opportunity for meaning. Having meaning in your life is really where ‘Life’ can occur. And this is always individually defined. Meaning is the spice, the flavor. Meaning is where creativity lives. You can find fulfillment in meaning. And you know immediately when you are not in this state. If what I’ve said seems mildly esoteric, that’s okay because now you have a blank canvas on which to determine your ‘meaning’.
… but, what do you think?
