Harv Eker, teaches “Nothing has meaning except for the meaning we give it.” On the surface this seems so simply, and it is….but it’s not easy to truly understand.

Think about this…there is no happiness, confidence or misery in the world. All these are emotions and meanings the WE project onto a situation. Don’t believe me? Try this, look in pockets or purse for happiness, did you find any? Or take a look in the cracks of the sofa for some confidence, find any? No…maybe you found a few quarters, but no confidence.

As difficult as this concept may be to grasp, the understanding of it is critical to live a life of self-control. It takes discipline and mental strength to TRULY understand that nothing has meaning except for the meaning you give it. If this seems is difficult to accept, and yet at some level you do understand it repeat this phrase several times a day for the next week.

“Nothing has meaning except for the meaning I give it”

Once you accept as this a true, it will mean that YOU will now be in control of your thoughts, and your thoughts will dictate your feelings. All meanings and emotions reside in our “inner world”, the world of beliefs, thoughts and feelings.

The “outer world” is the world of situations, experiences and the gross material. It is your inner world that creates meaning for your outer world. When you come to master this you will be in complete control of your own experiences, results and future.

I’d like to leave you this little twist…nothing has meaning except for the meaning you give it…especially your life!

Reference taken from:

http://www.warriormindcoach.com/blog/2009/01/12/nothing-has-meaning%E2%80%A6except-%E2%80%A6/

"If nothing in life has any meaning besides what you give to it then your experiences in life have nothing to do with what is happening in your life, but everything to do with the meaning you attach it to."

http://invpath.blogspot.com/2011/04/nothing-in-life-has-any-meaning-besides.html

"NOTHING HAS ANY MEANING EXCEPT THE MEANING WE
GIVE IT through our internal communication."

Anthony Robbins, Unlimited Power Home Study Course in pdf:

http://www.motivationalmagic.com/library/ebooks/success/success%20-%20Anthony%20Robbins%20-%20Unlimited%20Power%20Home%20Study%20Course.pdf

The True Meaning Of Things A Secret of Successful People


"Here's a fact: there isn't a right or wrong answer to the meaning of things that happen in life. We humans, whether consciously or sub-consciously, choose meanings for everything that happens around us. Successful people are such because they have learned to harness the power held within the secret. Successful people choose positive, empowering, and happy meanings for virtually everything that happens in their life. And in addition to this, they do it consciously until they fully train their own minds to do it sub-consciously because people aren't born to be successful or anything."


Nothing that happens in life has any meaning except for the meaning we choose to give it.

http://www.soompi.com/forums/topic/249915-the-true-meaning-of-things/

"NOTHING HAS ANY MEANING EXCEPT THE MEANING WE
GIVE IT

Harv Eker

"Using this phrase is like saying that life is really like a canvass. We have the choice to paint whatever we want on the canvass and therefore give that meaning. For example, experiencing failure is based on the meaning one gives it. Failure to one person could be considered as feedback and an opportunity to adjust focus for greater success for another."

http://jameskilgarriff.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/nothing-has-meaning-except-the-meaning-you-give-it/

I'm imagining a baby bird... wings flapping... mouth open... screeching at the parent bird.

--

According to the OP this series of events has no meaning unless humans attach meaning to it.

Here's the problem...

Humans are not the only thinking creatures in this world.

Ok, lets just open up "we" to include all thinking creatures.

Done.


Good post JB. It is true, nothing is good or bad except what thinking makes it. Without thoughts there is no good, no bad, no evil.

Intention, perception, feeling these are the grist of the consciousness mill. It is not always easy, but we can change the way we feel about things.

Thank you Jeannie...
You have helped me look at life differently.

I think you missed the point Billy. It is subtle, so it need be worked into a conversation...



We can, but how do we go about doing that?

By my lights, the OP and most of the motivational speakers/authors like Anthony Robbins - as good as he is, and he is very good - overstate the case concerning the attribution of personal meaning, and understate what meaning consists of.

The world is not a canvas upon which we can paint whatever we want and reasonably expect that painting to be reality.

I have no argument with the good and bad/evil aspect. Those are useless overgeneralizations for the most part. Although I've seen a couple of very good arguments for goodness existing in action... inherently to the action and having nothing to do with intention.

Giving to charity being one of those cases.

This is awkward because if I choose to disregard something or block it out, does this mean it does not exist...or have no meaning? Something without meaning would not serve a purpose..But if pay no meaning to scientific research for disease does that mean it does not exist?

I float serenely in my wahl (concept of Raymond Fiest in "Magician:Apprentice") while the world rages without. Some events I acknowledge and others I brush off. The ones I acknowledge have some meaning in various degrees. The ones I brush off are insignificant to me.

Many folk hold that meaning is use.

The quote above is a good example of why Robbin’s idea fails.

What does it mean to be successful? According to Robbins every person attributes their own meaning to what success is. All we can actually discern from the quote is that Robbins thinks that success occurs when a person thinks only positive, empowering, and happy thoughts.

To me, that’s not success, that’s just annoying, not to meantion that Robbins is not making good use of the English language.



The suggestion in this second quote is that WE give meaning to things. Who is We?

The image that is conjured by an individual when the word ‘CHAIR’ is used may be completely different than the image that was in the mind of the person who invoked the word, yet there is no question of what the word means.

Regardless of what image any individual holds when hearing the word, chair, there is STILL a common understanding of the word which gives the word the same meaning to everyone. Therefore, the WE referred to, is all people for whom the word ‘chair’ is part of the vocabulary.

The meaning is NOT different, it is based on the ‘utility’ which the word invokes regardless of the image that any person may visualize.

I don’t know much about Robbins, but from what has been posted here, he seems to be as lax in his use of the English language as he is in the logic he attaches to it.

Sure, but If I created an object, such as a chair, however it was an object you and every other thinking person was unaware of, and could not fathom it's use, you would not know the objects meaning. It's meaning would either have to be discovered, or communicated, or created by perception.

It may in fact have no meaning. Often times I will see an abstract piece of art, have the opportunity to speak with the artists, sometimes I will find that the artist actually just randomly threw some paint on the canvas with no meaning intended. Many people will come up with things they believe to be the meaning, but what does that say?

No objections, just further exploring the idea that perhaps meanings are not needed for creation, but then can be acquired via perception and contemplation.

Very strange that we can create meaning where none previously existed just by looking at the relationships between the characteristics of the thing in question. Or is that really meaning?

But does that jive? If a fabricated meaning that was not intended upon creation really a meaning? Or just a perceived or misconceived fabrication, or illusion of meaning? This seems to parallel the intelligent design concept. Can we assume meaning? Can we create meaning when we didn't intend for the thing in question to have any particular use, or represent anything at all?

I myself am not sure, I waffle back and forth. What do you think creative? Redy?

Meaning begins with identity/individuation. In humans it is directly tied to causality; the correct recognition thereof. Meaning is both, revealed and attributed. Truth is central.

Language is social.

So you think both? Meaning can be derived, or intended?