I’ve been thinking about my life recently.

Some of these thoughts emerged in my entry How to be happy, or Why you’re sad and how to fix it, which explores, "why I’m sad, how to be happy and my thoughts about what I want to do in my life, where I want to go and how I want to get there".

This entry takes a step back from happiness per se, to consider the second part of that discussion more closely; considering my ideas about my life in conjunction with what it might mean to live a fulfilled life.

I’ve included lots of links to Steve Pavlina in case you’re interested in particular ideas I’ve mentioned and want to pursue them. I find Steve’s writing to be really clear and helpful; I hope you do too.

Firstly, I want my life to have meaning

I want the areas of my life to cohere in to a pattern with an overarching aim, vision or mission. I want my decisions to have a non-arbitrary basis. I don’t want pursuing my desires to be a random mess of conflicting actions. See Living Congruently, Steve Pavlina.

Some ideas I’ve considered

Existentialism: Creating meaning for oneself

I was particularly enamoured with this when I was studying my undergraduate degree. Existentialism is something I will explore in future entries I’m sure. In the meantime, if you’re interested, Wikipedia: Existentialism has some pointers and references for where to find out more.

Kant on free will

Immanuel Kant helped me a lot today, especially with Peter’s exegesis. Read Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (book, currently £9.99 new, £5 used), because it’s clear & convincing. Plus, it’s something I’ll explore in future entries, so if you read it now you’ll be ready to discuss it when I write about it here. It’s the only course book on my wishlist; aw, Peter would be so proud. :)

I now have a way of thinking about free will that neither sounds completely implausible to me (Compatibilism & Libertarianism), nor includes discomforting counter-intuitiveness (Determinism). Instead, it soothes me. (Yes, Kant, soothing!)

Secondly, I’m in pursuit of happiness

Currently, a big chunk of this is my being in pursuit of healthiness (mentally, physically & spirituality). I’m achieving this in a number of ways:

Re-evaluating my life, in particular my attitudes to studying, following less than phenomenal experiences writing the essays. (The Christmas break is coming at an excellent time, giving me some much needed time to sort myself out).

Dancing, I do love it. What really makes one happy is to dance! It’s so true. Well, it’s true for me, dancing certainly makes me feel great. I love watching dancing too. (In fact, if you ever see any good dancing on YouTube, please recommend it to me by tagging it with for:inspirewithhope at del.icio.us. Thanks! Oh, and do you know of any daytime dance classes in London? Let me know, cheers).

Being good. Or, rather, thinking about what it means to be good. Chris’ classes have always had a profound effect on me. He’s leading our Ethics seminars, therefore I’m thinking about morality.

‘What is Goodness?’ is connected with ‘What is Reality?’

Steve’s thought about subjective reality speak to me. So that, whilst I espouse a realist view (sorry, I can’t think of a straightforward summary), I think, in a sense, I create (my) reality. Subjective reality is fascinating, something else I should write about!

In the meantime, definitely read Steve Pavlina on Subjective Reality, as that’s what I’ll be responding to: "Subjective reality is an integrated belief system where consciousness and awareness are primary. They are the container in which everything else exists. And I do mean EVERYTHING."

Yes, I realise those views (realism and subjective reality) are complete opposites, but it makes sense in my head!

Thirdly, happiness is located in happiness for myself & happiness for others

Cue entrepreneurship (for me) and social enterprise (for others), united. Brilliant. This is something I’m doing a lot of thinking about at the moment and it’s going to occupy an increasingly large part of my life. Interested? See How Selfish Are You? Steve Pavlina.

Ooh, another soundbite from Steve; this one’s really motivating:

Getting past a 7 [your comfort zone] is hard. It can take more effort to get past a 7 than it takes to reach a 7 in the first place. Some people would complain that it takes too long to get past a 7. But the truth is that the time is going to pass anyway. Even if it takes 5-10 years, you might as well get yourself to a higher level within that time, since the years are going to pass anyway…

You might get a bit scratched and bruised along the way. You might mess up your current relationship, your career, or your lifestyle. You won’t be able to see very far in front of you because everything will be moving faster than you’re used to. Sometimes you’ll just have to take it one day at a time and guess at the best direction. You might even hit a wall now and then.

Bruises just come with the territory. But getting moving again is far better than remaining stuck. The wounds will heal, and I’ve always found an exciting new path to explore. It sure beats dying a slow death while waiting for the vultures to swoop down…

If you want to experience deep fulfillment, take lots and lots of action. Action can be physical, mental, social — even spiritual.

The only true security lies in action.

How to Get From a 7 to a 10, Steve Pavlina

So, what difference does all this thinking make? Looking to the future…

So, next steps?

I had a lot of brilliant ideas today about things I want to do in the future. Now I just need to decide what I’m doing now to make that future happen.

Over the Christmas holidays, I’ll be studying and working on my main business idea. I’ll be meeting up with my study buddies (uniting business & pleasure is an excellent way to be motivated) and, of course, doing some more thinking. Stay tuned to All Things Bright for more every-other-day updates and let me know what you think, because I love hearing from my readers.

Notes: Especially for new visitors

Chris, Peter & Rosa (photo, Flickr) are my tutors for the MA Ethics & Philosophy of Religion postgraduate degree I’m reading.
Steve Pavlina, Personal Development for Smart People, is one of my favourite self-publishing authors.

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