“What is the meaning of life?” This is not a small question, however it is one of the most significant questions that we as humans ever ask. Robert Fulghum is the author of the book, “Everything I Needed to Know, I learned in Kindergarten” and he tells a poignant story about the meaning of life and clarifies this important question. When Fulgum was in college, it was standard on the last day of the semester for professors to ask “are there any final questions?” Robert would raise his hand and retort, “What is the meaning of life?” All of his classmates would laugh, pick up their books and walk away. This habit of asking professors, “What is the meaning of life,” became less of a casual curiosity and took on a deep meaning life’s journey.
After Fulghum became a professor, minister, author and speaker he got an invitation to visit a peace institute on the Island of Crete. The peace institute was founded by Alexander Papaderos and the timing of Fulghum’s invitation was particularly meaningful because these were to be Papaderos’ last two weeks of teaching. Upon arriving, Fulghum learned that the peace institute was strategically built between two cemeteries. One cemetery was filled with the graves of Germans who had invaded the Island of Crete during World War II and the other cemetery held the graves of the Cretians who defended their island.
The two week training was educational and life changing for Fulghum. During the closing of Dr. Papaderos’ last teaching, he looked around the room and asked, “Are there any final questions?” Fulghum raised his hand and when called upon he asked, “Dr. Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?” As usual, people laughed and started to pick up their things but this time, Fulghum was surprised by what happened next. Dr. Papanderos said “Sit back down. I will tell you what I believe is the meaning of life.”
Papaderos said, “When I was a young boy and the Germans invaded our island, there began to be exist a line of division between the Cretians and the Germans. As Germany came closer and closer, I watched my older brothers fight and I watched some of them die. I observed as this imaginary line came closer and closer. The birds of the air knew nothing about this imaginary line; they flew freely from one country to another.
Then one day I came around the corner and there was the remains of a German motorcycle. I don’t know what happened to the German, but his motorcycle was wrecked and the rearview mirror on that motorcycle was smashed on the ground. I picked up the mirror and I tried to put it back together again. When I realized I could not put the mirror back together again, I took the largest, jagged piece of mirror and I sanded it with a rough rock until it became a perfect sphere. I created a childish game that involved holding my mirror and getting the light to reflect off of it and shine into dark places. I got really good at shining light into crevices and very dark places. When I learned how to hold the mirror just right, I could shine my light into any dark place.”
Then Papaderos looked around the room and said, “I came to realize that every one of us is a fragment of a mirror whose size and shape we do not know, but as a fragment of that mirror we are essential to it’s wholeness.” Papaderos reached for his wallet and pulled out the mirror and held it in such a way that the light reflected off that mirror and a beam landed right on Fulghum hands. He walked over, handed Fulghum the mirror and said, “Now you go and tell this story to the world.”
Each of us, as unique as a thumbprint, are a fragment of something that is immense and internal. We didn’t create ourselves; we have been breathed into existence by this incredible sacred immensity called life. And life is seeking a freer, fuller, expanded expression of itself by means of itself. That means, right where we are, something great is seeking to happen. It comes to us first through ideas and dreams, and if we stay true to our light, we will influence not only our life, but our world.
Each and every one of us is a fragment of a mirror whose size and shape we do not know. But as a fragment of that mirror we are each uniquely essential to its wholeness. If we pay attention to what we love and are focused on creating a life that makes a difference for not only yourself but your world, you are going to find, not only are you happy. So what are we here for? To take whatever seems dark in life, shine light on it and bring what we care about forward.
Many people look at their lives and wonder how they can create more success. The first step in answering this question is to ask, “What does success looks like to me?” The Universe has unlimited resources yet we all have beliefs about what we think is possible for us. It is our limited beliefs about what our lives can be that stand in the way of seeing infinite possibility. Even if we are able to comprehend that infinite possibility, many people never get specific enough about exactly what it is that they want in their lives.
So when we ask ourselves the question, “What does success look like to me?” We really should be asking ourselves far more specific questions to get to the root of our vision. We should ask questions such as: “What would I like my relationships be like?” “What would I like my financial life to look like?” “How would my work life look?” “What will I do with my time and talent?” “Where would I live and where would I travel to?”
The most fundamental part of achieving success is defining with clarity and specificity what success looks like for you as an individual. A great example of this idea is to imagine that you have an opportunity to have the world’s most talented team of architects, designers and builders create your dream home from the ground up. If all you tell this dream team is that you want a home that makes you happy, you have given away all control and participation in the creative process. There is no way that the most talented architect will know how to draw up blue prints that will make you happy. The builders will not know whether you want a house made of brick, wood or stone. The designer won’t know if you prefer modern, traditional or country design.
The same is true of the Universe. If you declare, “I want to be successful,” the Universe has no guidelines or parameters within which to work. The universe needs to know how to supply you with the ideas, information and steps that will take you from where you are to where you want to be. Therefore, the first step to really having success in your life is a major burning desire for what it is you want to create and the specificity to define it.
People often find themselves feeling “stuck” with regards to their income. They realize they have been working at the same job for years and feel that perhaps they have maxed out their earning potential. They begin to wonder, “How do I get unstuck from the amount of money I tend to make?” Perhaps every year they set goals or they ask themselves, “Am I going to make more money this year?” But they tend to pretty much make the same income.
The best way to break free from this pattern can be explained by using an example: Imagine you are in an office and the temperature for that office is controlled by the thermostat. The thermostat is the setting governance of the temperature you allow inside a given space. There is a thermometer that reads the temperature but it is the thermostat that sets the temperature and when there is even a slight variance of temperature, the thermostat kicks in and brings the temperature back to the variant settings. How can we apply the concept of a thermostat to our financial livelihood?
Whether we know it or not, we all have a money thermostat. We have a predetermined notion about how much money we expect to make and our perspective is often very limited. This limited perspective tells us things like, “I’ve only been working at this job for 2 years so I can’t expect to make more than $65,000,” or “Everyone I know who is in a similar employment situation as me, makes $80,000 per year so that’s what I can expect.” It is our paradigms or preconceived notions about our lives and what we can expect that are making it impossible for us to tune in to another frequency. Our money thermostat is set and we need only look at current financial situation to see how it is set. The thermostatic setting of the paradigms that are governing your life controls your money.
