Three tips to confidently cultivate more meaning in your life, regardless of your financial situation.
A recent study conducted by Skandia International reports that estimably 80% of the world’s adult population believe that money is all they need to be happy in life. In reality, financial freedom improves the quality of everyone’s life and makes it a lot easier to engage in activities that can potentially boost happiness.
However, relying on money for long-term meaning and true happiness in life usually ends in a sense of misdirection. For starters, most people might never make the kind of money that can fund the exotic lifestyle that’s considered the “social standard” for happiness. They get out of bed every day from early adulthood to retirement, working tirelessly to clear bills, sustain their families, and perhaps, enjoy the occasional vacation once in a year. Merging one’s idea of happiness with an endless stream of massive funds might leave a person feeling incomplete and unfulfilled for the rest of their life.
In another instance, some people might achieve the level of financial freedom they’d consider optimal for a truly happy lifestyle. Expensive vacations multiple times a year, lovely houses, sleek cars, and being able to afford whatever they want at any time. What happens then, when all the exotic locations begin to look the same and the luxurious house feels just like any other home? You’d find yourself in a rut, where everything bores you and there’s actually no purposeful meaning to all the affluence.
According to Michelle Beltran, an American psychic medium and intuitive life coach, your holistic wellbeing hangs in the balance when you rely solely on finances for happiness.
“Our culture infuses us with a materialistic world-view that neglects the role of spirit and the existence of our holistic self,” says Beltran. “Self-awareness will provide you with introspection, to see things the way they really are. It is the first door you must open in order to gauge the truth of things. Breathe life into this new perspective and you may find that simpler pleasures and deeper felicity, not financial fortune, are the doorways to ultimate wealth.”
Cultivating purposeful meaning in your life can exponentially boost your confidence and elevate your happiness, and below are three tips to help you start a truly transformational journey.
Meditation
Meditation isn’t merely about sitting with your legs crossed, eyes closed, and mind blank.
It’s an age-long deep wellness practice that’s focused on cultivating mindfulness through attentive breathing. Meditation dissipates stress and allows you to channel your mind into a deep sense of relaxation and inner peace. You become mindful of your focus and this adds meaning to your conscious state by allowing you to deeply assimilate experiences that would have otherwise been simple or bland.
The core practice in meditation is to focus on your breathing. It’s important to find a quiet place at a quiet time of the day and sit in a position that allows air to move vertically through your nostrils, down into your stomach, and out again. Focus intently on the movement of the air and how your body feels after each exhalation. If your mind strays from breathing, return your attention to it immediately. Practising this for 15-30 minutes daily can help build your mind’s muscles of deep concentration and useful focus.
“Studies have shown that the most accurate psychics have mastered the art of quieting their mind, the left brain,” says Beltran, a former U.S. Air Force official and the award-winning author of Take the Leap: What It Really Means to Be Psychic. “It may sound trite, but it is true. There is no tool more powerful than meditation to enhance your psychic ability. In quieting your mind, you find your true self and understand your innermost qualities. In your daily meditation, even if it’s just five minutes a day, be sure to quiet your logical, left-brain thinking mind. Say hello and then goodbye to your left brain. Make an agreement with your left brain to reconvene at another time. Meditation and a quiet mind will assist in a quicker and clearer connection with your psychic self.”
Embrace kindness as a lifestyle
Kindness is considered a virtue, and as such, it is as inherent as it can be learned. There are people out there who do not feel that natural inclination to give, to help, to share, or to engage in any activity remotely related to spreading love.
However, kindness is one of the most impactful ways of adding meaning and innate joy to your life. For this reason, if you do not feel it naturally, then it is important to train your heart in the art of generosity. Putting out fruits for the homeless every week, giving a bottle of cold water to the delivery guys that show up at your door, helping a friend in financial distress, anonymously paying a poor kid’s hospital bills – essentially, rendering whatever help within your capacity counts as an act of service to humanity, and the universe will always bring good turns your way.
Pay attention to your dreams
To anyone whose dreams are usually crazy or just recaps of the previous day, this might sound like a bit of a stretch.
However, according to dream psychologists, these series of thoughts and sensations occurring in a person’s subconscious may contain snippets of detail that could contribute to a more meaningful conscious state. It’s important to pay special attention to the last dream just before you wake up because it’s the most vivid and retains the clearest images in your mind.
“Dreams have an unfathomable ability to deliver profound messages, spiritual insights, and guidance, unlike other avenues of mental access,” says Beltran, who offers virtual psychic reading sessions and online courses in exploring the spiritual states of consciousness. “Pay attention to the feelings you get in your dreams. Feelings are an indication that something is important, dangerous, or worthy, and they are an emotional link to persons, places, or events in the dream. To make the most of what you are learning, take note of every new feeling and emotion immediately after a dream; you may wish to revisit them later. Take time to make any relevant and necessary connections; they are messages.”
In conclusion, practising mindfulness, genuine charity, and paying attention to the details of your subconscious state are some of the foremost ways of adding purpose, meaning, and positive energy to your life. You get to wake up every morning excited for what the day may bring and you go to bed at night, fulfilled, satisfied, and eager to seize the next day.
This story was originally published on The Carousel.
