Self-reflection is important but to what extent does it become too much? It seems the most persistent question we ask ourselves is: Am I happy?
This question haunts us every day as we go about our lives. It seems to be a question that is fundamental to what it means to be human.
However, psychology says this question prevents us from finding meaning in life. For decades, psychologists have studied how long-term, meaningful goals develop over the span of our lives. The goals that foster a sense of purpose are ones that can potentially change the lives of other people, like launching an organization, researching disease, or teaching kids to read.
Indeed, a sense of purpose appears to have evolved in humans so that we can accomplish big things together—which may be why it’s associated with better physical and mental health. Purpose is adaptive, in an evolutionary sense. It helps both individuals and the species to survive.
1. “Difficulties in your life don’t come to destroy you, but to help you realize your hidden potential.” – Anonymous
2. “If GOD brings you to it, He will bring you through it.” ? Anonymous
3. “Life is like a riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” ? Albert Einstein
4. “God has purpose for your pain, a reason for your struggle and a gift for your faithfulness. Don’t give up.” ? Anonymous
5. “You only live once but you do it right ONCE IS ENOUGH.” ? Anonymous
6. “Your life is your message to the world. Make sure it’s inspiring.” ? Anonymous
7. “Rise up start fresh see the bright opportunity in each new day.” ? Anonymous
8. “Always end the day with a positive thought. No matter how hard things were, tomorrow’s a fresh opportunity to make it better.” ? Anonymous
9. “To be inspired is great, to inspire is incredible.” ? Anonymous
10. “Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” ? Joshua J. Marine
11. “You are not one type, nor belong to one category. You are a unique blend of personality needs. Live your needs for total fulfillment.” – Diana Detinger
12. “Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.” – Joseph Campbell
13. “For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment.” – Victor E. Frankl
14. “To believe in immorality is one thing, but it is first needful to believe in life.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
15. “Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live.” – Johann Wolfgang van Goethe
16. “Whatever we are, whatever we make of ourselves, is all we will ever have – and that, in its profound simplicity, is the meaning of life.” – Philip Appleman
17. “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone-we find it with another.” – Thomas Merton
18. “Life is a fairy tale. Live it with wonder and amazement.” – Welwyn Wilton Katz
19. “Do not fear failure but rather fear not trying.” – Roy T. Bennett
20. “Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner.” – Les Brown
21. “We should give meaning to life, not wait for life gives us meaning.” – Stacy
22. “The first thing to do in life is to do with purpose what one purposes to do.” – Pablo Casals
23. “Everything in life is most fundamentally a gift. And you receive it best and you live it best by holding it with very open hands.” – Leo O’Donovan
24. “The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The work of life is to develop it. The meaning of life is to give your gift away.” – David Viscott
25. “To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
26. “The meaning of life is not only to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
27. “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” – Aristotle
28. “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” – Nelson Henderson
29. “Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life.” – Wayne Dyer
30. “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
31. “If you don’t follow your heart, you might spend the rest of your life wishing you had.” – Brigitte Nicole
32. “I just wish people would realize that anything is possible if you try. Dreams are made if people try.” – Terry Fox
33. “A true test of character isn’t how you are on your best days but how you act on your worst days.” – Anonymous
34. “Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.” – Gordon B. Hinckley
35. “Your dream doesn’t have an expiration date. Take a deep breath and try again.” – Anonymous
36. “You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Anonymous
37. “Failure is not the opposite of success. It is a part of success.” – Anonymous
38. “Let your faith be bigger than your fear.” – Anonymous
39. “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.” – Bruce Lee
40. “Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine
41. “Before defining what you want, know who you are.” – Diana Detinger
42. “Keep your eyes in the stars and your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Rossevelt
43. “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sir there.” – Will Rogers
44. “You will never be happy if you continue to search for happiness cpnsist of. You will never life if you are looking for the meaning of life.” – Albert Camus
45. “The best thing in life make you sweaty.” – Edgar Allan Poe
46. “Life is problems. Loving is solving problems.” – Raymond E. Feist
47. “If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.” – Viktor E. Frankl
48. “The secret to life is meaningless unless you discover it yourself.” – W. Somerset Maugham
49. “Look at the stars. See their beauty. And in that beauty, see yourself.” – Draya Mooney
50. “Everyone now knows how to find the meaning of life within himself.’ – Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
51. “The greatest create of power you have on earth, whether you are an angel, a spirit, a man or woman is to help others.” – Anne Rice
52. “The only purpose of our lives consists in waking each other up and being there for each other.” – Johanna Paungger
53. “Be a lover of the world, it is the only way to survive in it.” – Janosch
54. “Each man must look to himself to teach him the meaning of life. It is not something discovered: it is something molded.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
55. “A life without cause is a life without effect.” – Barbarella
56. “However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.” – Stanley Kubrick
57. “The pure power of a life can manifest a beatitude, or as an unspeakable, sheer violence…” – Jane Bennett
58. “You will have fewer regrets in life if you start focusing and taking responsibility foe where you are and where you want to be.” – Deborah Day
59. “Stop making excuses and start doing what makes you profoundly happy!” – Diana Dentinger
60. “No one could teach you to be you… until now!” – Diana Dentinger
61. “Why settle for anything less than total life fulfillment. Start by filling yourself up with you.” – Diana Detinger
62. “Your life would never have a meaning if you don’t have a goal or purpose.”- Sunday Adelaja
63. “A life without concrete products is a meaningless one.” Sunday Adelaja
64. “Life is like a poetry, without meaning or purpose – it’s useless.” – Jawwad Zafar
65. “Embrace your struggles. They are making you the person you were meant to be.” – Avijeet Das
66. “Life no longer felt meaningless. It felt stressful and terrifying, but it definitely didn’t feel meaningless.” – Donald Miller
67. “Do not fear the conflict, and do not flee from it; there is no struggles, there is no Virtue.” – Joyram
68. “Self-glory makes life meaningless, glorify God fulfills it.” – indonesia123
69. “It is better to be hated for what you are now than to be loved for you are not.” – Andre Gide
70. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw
71. “Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn’t stop for anybody.” – Stephen Chbosky
72. “Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.” – Steve Maraboli
73. “It’s only after you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform.” – Roy T. Bennett
74. “Do what is right, not what is easy nor what is popular.” – Roy. T. Bennett
75. “At the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanation, no regrets.” – Steve Maraboli
76. “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” – Soren Kierkegaard
77. “Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.” – Elbert Hubbard
78. “Stay focused, go after your dreams and keep moving toward your goals.” – LL Cool J
79. “You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward.” – Conrad Hall
80. “Everything in life… has to have balance.” – Donna Karan
81. “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” – Soren Kierkegaard
82. “Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations.” – Oliver Goldsmith
83. “Work like you don’t need money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.” – Satchel Paige
84. “The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
85. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
86. “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” – Albert Einstein
87. “Through hard work, perseverance and a faith in god you can live your dreams.” – Ben Carson
88. “Never give up. Today is hard tomorrow will be worse, but the after tomorrow will be sunshine.” – Jack Ma
89. “The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.” – Bertrand Russell
90. “Life is a progress, and not a station.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
91. “Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living for, and your belief will help create the fact.” – William James
92. “Nourish your Nature. Be who you are meant to be.” – Diana Detinger
93. “Life is about making an impact, not making an income.” – Kevin Kruse
94. “Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Roosevelt
95. “It’s not about how hard you can hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” – Rocky Balboa
96. “Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.” – Roy T. Bennett
97. “Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” – William Butler Yeats
98. “Do not watch the clock. Do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
99. “Life must be lived and curiosity kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back to life.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
100. “Most important thing in life … is learning how to fall.” – Jeanette Walls