Find Purpose In the Little Things

Make It Your Mantra - I Matter
Find purpose and direction in the little things
by Abby Tegnelia

Skating through your day waiting for it to be over does make the time toiling away at work or doing chores go by faster. But it also means missing half the fun! We all have a natural need to feel that what we do in a day affects others -- we need it to feel complete. Taking that away from yourself could lead down a slippery slope towards feeling like you don't even matter.

It's so easy to wallow in scary daydreams of a future where you never get that house or job you want or the lover you pine for. You tell yourself that achieving those things would give your life direction. Without doing so, you sometimes think, your life is meaningless, and you're just passing time. Why is that so silly? Because putting your happiness in the hands of events that may or may not happen is overwhelming -- and ultimately ineffective.

Take a moment to yourself and repeat, "I matter." It's the new year, the perfect time to reconnect with your core and re-asses your value. When you start to give yourself credit for what's actually important, it will be much higher than you think!

Recognizing doubts and lack of purpose before they turn into depression
A lack of purpose in one's life can easily lead to full-blown depression. If you're having even passing thoughts about feeling discard-able, you could be in danger of heading down that road.

In a perfect world, we'd all find the same joy in washing dishes that we feel when falling in love. It might sound pretty unrealistic now, but even knowing that that's what to aim for will help you land somewhere in the middle of that bliss and being stuck in a rut.

Humans are instinctive creatures, and tapping into those incredible instincts is the first step towards ridding yourself of any doubts you have about your worth. When you start to feel scared about your future, witness your heart racing and your ears ringing. There's nothing pleasurable about that! Your body knows that something is wrong. Now remind yourself that at your core, you are happy and peaceful. It's time to capitalize on those feelings and learn how to tap into them every single day. Doubts and fears go against those natural feelings -- when you lean on them when thinking of the future, something you can't control, you could be headed toward serious depression. Time to make "I matter" your mantra.

Learning that you do matter
We live in a society that sometimes makes it seem that fancy job titles, cinematic love stories and unrealistic body types are the only way to happiness. In reality, our world consists of an interactive web of human beings -- what we do every day affects a huge amount of people. Hold open a door for a stranger? Even if the smile is delayed to where you don't get to see it, you were still a bright spot in that person's day, affecting their behavior towards others. ("I matter.") Finish up hours worth of tedious paperwork for a boss, no matter how ungrateful that person seems? The company couldn't run without it. ("I matter.") When you really start to look, you will find that you do many little things every single day that other people rely on.

Your unique talents really do matter. Even if your idea wasn't used by your work committee, you feel like your kids don't listen to a word you say, or a friend in need doesn't take your advice, your distinct voice and feelings were an important part of the process. Speak up! What you say and do has a direct impact on the people around you. It's time for you to be seen and heard. When you feel doubt about your contributions and your worth, take a breath and tell yourself, "I matter." Because you do.

Strengthening your self-worth is a life-long process.