Every person in this world strives for personal fulfillment. Nobody was born to win. Growing up is a process and it is full of accumulation of experiences, ups and downs of life. One is not discouraged by bitter experiences. He continues to have courage to forge ahead. Hope gingers him into action. He has a goal to fulfil. He examines whatever he wants to do, including his life, because an unexamined life can be a great obstacle to achieving his goals. Whatever lessons he gets from the examination of self, he uses it to carry on in his struggle for self-actualization. He will not like to be defeated by life with its pains and discouragements. In his mind, he must fulfil his goal in life to be what God wants him to be. Nobody pushes him but his inner drive. But if someone pushes him while the inner drive is not there, he will be something else.
Life fulfillment is not displaying our power or our wealth through the kind of cars we drive, or the neighbourhood we live in. when a person feels a sense of self-esteem; when he is confident and secured in himself and reaches out to others, he can be said to be a fulfilled person. When we lack self-esteem we feel “one kind”. In order to have a genuine sense of ourselves, we must know ourselves very well and be able to assess objectively our virtues and weaknesses. A person may reach the goal he sets in life and may not be fulfilled. A person may plan to be a Priest but later decide to marry. He may not be fulfilled as a married man. You may even become a priest and yet you are not fulfilled. Self-fulfillment has something to do with enriching oneself with what you are doing and enriching others.
It has something to do with enjoying your work, which contributes to enrich you spiritually and enrich others, leaving legacies everywhere. A fulfilled life gives joy and others participate in others people’s joys and achievements. Everything about a fulfilled person appeals to the public. As a fulfilled person he is not envious of others. He is contended with what he has from God. He appreciates others, and he appreciates nature. The society appreciates him too. The experience of life has helped him to be what he is now. A look at his life, past and present, gives him a sense of wholeness and fulfillment. Life fulfillment is not something that can be acquired at the drop of a hat.
It is what you acquire through your struggles, falling and rising, rain drenching you everytime. It requires patience, waiting on God, listening to the voices of birds and even listening to your inner self. You can only get fulfilled in the right way not taking someone’s wife or engaging in illicit activities. It is not about reaching where others have reached but the major concern is how you reached there. Today you should re-examine yourself to know if you are living a real fulfilled life or pseudo life.
• Monsignor Livinus Ukah is a Catholic Priest, Author of several books and Social Justice Advocate.
