The Most Meaningful Thing

Do you have a situation in mind? You may find it hard to put your experience into words. Resonance with the highest goal has that overwhelming power that the scientists tell us about, that the sages see as the dazzling blue pearl, that your own experience validates. But how can you talk of its enormity?

You can start on this journey of noticing your times of connection by using the following series of questions to help you go deeper. Once you have tried this several times, you can begin to get into a beneficial habit of acknowledging your inner greatness and enjoying its various aspects.

You might find it helpful to take some notes as part of this exercise; yet know that you can do it in your head without any writing if that is more convenient for you.

First, recall the most meaningful thing you did in the last week or so. It could be something similar to the situation you just recalled, but think of something that happened recently. Whatever it is, re-experience doing that activity. See it in your mind’s eye and get the feeling of what made this activity so meaningful. (Notice that I am not asking you to recall some earthshaking event or accomplishment, just the activity that was most meaningful in the last week or so.) You may want to jot down a few notes about this situation just to identify it for yourself.

Second, answer the question, “How come this was so important, so meaningful to me?”

Then answer the question, “Why is that (the reason you gave to the previous question) so important to me?”

And keep asking the question, “Why is that so important to me?” of every answer you give until you get down to one word.

That word, if you dig below possible negative reasons (such as fear) or external reasons (such as money) that you have for doing something, represents just one quality of your essence, your Self. When you see what that word is—be it Love, Communication, Wisdom, Energy, Tranquility, Fun, Creativity, Service, Silence, Connection, Peace, Joy, or any number of other qualities that may be part of who you are at core—acknowledge that quality as being part of who you really are. Remember it. Revel in it. Contemplate it. See how it has been a guiding quality in your life. Notice it coming up as you deal with each new situation.

When I ask a group of people to do this Most Meaningful Thing exercise together, we shout out our words at the same time. Then we make time for individuals to say their personal words that came from the exercise. We are moved by the depth of these words as qualities of who we are. Eventually we get the truth that all these words are part of who we are, although they have different meanings for each of us.

If you look at the various words that surface as you use this exercise for any activity, you can see how you can move more quickly to faith and flow in your life. For instance, one man who did this exercise talked about visiting and taking care of his aged and ill father. He first wrote about fear as a reason that he did the activity. He was afraid that if he didn’t take care of his dad, he would not be seen as a good son. But then as he worked through the exercise, he realized successively that Connection, Creativity, Joy, Love, and, finally, Peace were underlying the meaningfulness of this activity.

Outer responsibility and fear initially moved him to act, yet the activity became meaningful because of deep traits that were part of his Self. Peace was the highest goal for him. He kept working with this realization with each visit, until his faith propelled him to an experience of genuine Peace with his father. Even though there were difficulties in their relationship, out of this came a flow of compassion and energy that made their last days together complete, an experience of the highest goal for each of them.