How to Live a Meaningful Life
In his book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Robert Fulghum wrote out what he called his Credo. What is necessary to live a meaningful life? It was true when he wrote it in 1986 and is still great guidance for today.
Robert’s Credo
[the things he learned in the sandpile at Sunday School not at the top of the graduate-school mountain.]
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life—learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup—they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned—the biggest word of all—LOOK.
Reflecting on These Words
So many things in my life make it meaningful. Here are a few of them that surface after reading Robert’s Credo.
It pays to be generous
Treat people the same way I want them to treat me
Have a place for everything, then put it back after I’m done using it (still working on this one)
Apologize when I say something or do something that hurts someone else
Wash my hands regularly not just because of Covid
Take time in my day to draw, sing, write, dance, play and work
Time napping is not wasted but refreshes both my mind and body
When I’m out cycling, look both ways before crossing an intersection
I don’t have to understand how something works to be awed by it
I will die some day so live each day as if it were my last
Be aware of what’s happening in the people around me and respond with empathy and understanding
Now It’s Your Turn
What would you say are some of the things in your life that bring meaning? Write them down and send them to me or share them with a friend.
