Faith, Security and Risk

The Dynamics of Spiritual Growth

Reflection Paper

Q: What would be your idea of “meaning” in your life? How would this fulfillment differ from mere “pleasure”? Would fulfillment be the same as “self-actualization”? yes or no?

The definition of meaning according to Frankel was “whatever reason or purpose that each of us has for living.” Finding the meaning of your life is one of the hardest most mysterious things to come to a conclusion about. I would think that to really know what meaning your life had is to live it and when you feel like you’ve lived your life- then answer the question. I can only say what I would like the meaning of my life to be. I would like to feel that I’ve made a difference in the world. That my being here, I’ve made someone else’s life happier. May be through an occupation, partner, children or some other way. That is what I’d like my life to be about. The search for meaning in one’s life is one of the reasons why we live. We can only live to find out what it is. Everyone whether they think about it or not looks for a way to find fulfillment in their lives. In some aspects you may even overlook the meaning of your life and for some people it’s hard to uncover. Many people may confuse what gives them pleasure and true fulfillment. I think that there is a huge difference between pleasure and fulfillment. The definition of pleasure is what people use to make them temporarily happy. Me may be hiding or satisfying ourselves with temporary pleasure instead of true happiness. When I think of happiness of fulfillment I try to look at what it will end up like in the future. I look to see if I will find some kind of happiness out of my decision. The cigarette and the nicotine that goes into their body pleasure people who smoke. The long-term effects of that cigarette will not cause them great happiness. I don’t think that they will find fulfillment in the decision that they made. I believe that fulfillment in some aspects is the same as self-actualization. In self-actualization you should feel good about yourself and who you are and when you feel this way the better you are able to fulfill your dreams. To achieve full self-actualization you must have the ability to tolerate and even welcome uncertainty in life and have spontaneity, creativity, caring, humor, intense relationships and inner directions. If you have all these factors you are truly a self-actualized person and already feel fulfillment in yourself and what could stop you from feeling it in your life as well.