Are you a resilient underdog, or a nice guy that just can't catch a break? Are you simply not understood by a person, or someone that "nobody" seems to get?

Take a moment to look at the beliefs you have about yourself and your life course. 

Do you feel like you're headed in the direction of greatness, with some roadblocks?

Or do you think that a success or deeper meaning would be an exception in your life, rather than the rule? Honing optimism in your life story is a key to unlocking your potential

for leading a life with meaning capable of extending beyond itself.

Imagine that you encounter a day when everything goes according to plan, and people act as you expect them to. You feel happy about this, or just accept it as

"the way things should be." Now imagine you get cut-off in traffic, or a coworker makes a snide comment, and you're ready to throw in the towel on the day

already. Part of living a meaningful life means being able to distance yourself from the small stuff, in order to focus on the big stuff. Everything else is just a

distraction. 

Sometimes it helps to go on a hike, jump into the ocean, or otherwise get acquainted with nature to realize how small you are in comparison to everything around

you. Nature was here before, and will be here after you cease to exist. Don't focus on counting imperfect grains of sand that will be there regardless, when you could instead

plant a tree to eventually grow.

Let's say you work as a janitor at a large natural snack food facility. You could get bogged down in what you do: which is taking trash out for a

living, or take pride in what it is you're contributing to: providing healthy food to people all across the nation. Which outlook is more empowering to you, and humanity? Choose

that outlook, and give your full self to whatever you're doing. You never know where your passion and dedication may lead you, but along the journey you'll know meaning, because

you have created it.