FILLING UP YOUR LIFE

Do some soul searching to seek out happiness.

We can live a long time without thinking about such things as "meaning" and "purpose" in life. But happy and healthy living requires that we visit these words from time to time

I have heard that Ralph Barton, a cartoon­ist of a former generation, left this note pinned to his pillow before taking his life: "I have had few diffi­culties, many friends, great successes; I have gone from wife to wife, and from house to house, visited great countries of the world, but I am fed up with inventing devices to fill up twenty-four hours of the day."

Whatever psychological problems may have afflicted him, Ralph Barton suffered from an empty life. He tried to fill it up -- with relation­ships and things and busyness. He was no doubt successful in his work. And probably well liked. His problem was that he felt his life had no meaning.

Educator Morrie Schwartz helps us put meaning into our lives. In Mitch Albom's audio book TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE (Grand Haven, MI: Nova Audio Books, Brilliance, 1997), he chronicles the final months of Morrie's life, as his former teacher slowly dies of Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS). Morrie, that irrepressible lover of life, says this: "So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half asleep even when they are busy doing things they think are im­portant. This is the product of chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to lov­ing others, de­vote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating some­thing that gives you purpose and meaning."

Do you want to be happy? Do you want a life that matters? Then fill it up with loving and caring for those around you! I guarantee, it will never seem empty again!