What is the meaning of life for me feels more like a question asking what is the “purpose” of life? Purpose gives us meaning and when we ask “what is the purpose of life?” we gain insights we can use to experience life more fully.

Defining life’s purpose can be explored both from the perspective of an individual or more globally as in the human spirit. One such purpose that I feel deserves attention by all of us is learning to understand what true perfection is.

We all struggle with a sense of incompleteness in our life, a feeling that wherever we are in this moment is not where we need to be to feel fulfilled, to be completely happy. Whatever we have is not enough nor is whatever we have accomplished. Deep and lasting happiness feels elusive, just beyond the horizon. If we could just get there this feeling of incompleteness would finally dissipate and yet, it never does.

All through our lives we constantly acquire more and yet that stubborn feeling hangs on refusing to leave us. The wealthiest people in the world can’t escape it. We see this in those that have achieved so much material wealth and yet they are plagued by substance abuse brought on by a feeling of “is this all there is?”

In our digital mobile age the media is connected to us 24/7. This feeling of incompleteness is what fuels the engine of marketing and we are conveniently always accessible to its impact thus this feeling is nurtured daily. We are constantly bombarded with images of perfect looking people living perfect lives and if only we could have what they have we too could experience perfection and relief from this nagging sense of “something is lacking in my life.” The industries that create this message do so because they are suffering from the same sense of incompleteness as the rest us. After all they are made up of ordinary people erroneously thinking that more money to buy more things will quench an unquenchable thirst. I call it the failure of “SAS…Stuff Acquisition Syndrome.”

But what really is perfection in life…

Put simply, it is the ability to infinitely expand and we all possess this ability totally for free. True perfection must be free of limits. It can’t be a number like so many dollars in a portfolio. It can’t be a certain level of skill reached no matter how high that may be. Those all represent a limit, a finite state. When we accept and understand this we realize that we as human spirits are in a state of perfection all the time because we are free to expand without limits and this is why the feeling of incompleteness is designed into us. Its purpose is to tell us there is always more that we can become, always more we can achieve, more we can experience. We will never run out of room to grow. We have just misinterpreted a basic gift of our spiritual DNA and allowed it to enslave us in a way that it was never meant to do.

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~Thomas M. Sterner is the founder and CEO of The Practicing Mind Institute. As a successful entrepreneur he is considered an expert in Present Moment Functioning or PMF tm. He is a popular and in demand speaker who works with high performance individuals including, athletes, industry groups and individuals, helping them to operate effectively within high stress situations so that they can break through to new levels of mastery.

As an expert Present Moment Functioning Coach, Thomas has brought clarity to thousands regarding how they can accomplish more with less effort, in the least amount of time and with greatly reduced stress. Top media outlets such as NPR, Fox News and Forbes have sought his advice. He is the author of the best seller The Practicing Mind; Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life (New World Library 2012) and Fully Engaged; Using The Practicing Mind In Daily Life (New World Library 2016)

Prior to founding The Practicing Mind Institute he served as the Chief Concert Piano technician for a major performing arts center preparing instruments for the most demanding performances. During his 25 year tenure as a high level technician he personally worked for industry giants such as Van Cliburn, Pavarotti, Andre Watts, Ray Charles, Fleetwood Mac, Bonnie Raitt, Tony Bennett, Wynton Marsalis and many more. An accomplished musician and composer he has also worked in the visual arts and as a recording studio engineer.

In his down time Tom is an accomplished musician, private pilot, avid sailor and proficient golfer. He lives in Wilmington Delaware and enjoys spending time with his two daughters and in his recording studio.
www.TomSterner.com

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