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Christopher Williams
Jizi
UWRT 1104 014
Due, 9/28/2016
My meaningful Life
In many instances it is hard for me to envision what my future holds. Oftentimes I find
myself dwelling on the past, wondering how I can learn from my mistakes rather than actually
setting goals. From reading about the PERMA model, taking surveys and everything else in the
composing a meaningful life section, I can say that I have a good idea of how to make my future
more meaningful.
In the Mindtools values exercise I noticed that Barbados kept coming up as an answer
(i.e. : times when I was the happiest, most fulfilled and satisfied etc.). Due to this I know I want
my future to be in Barbados. Both of my parents are from the island and I feel most at home
when I visit there. I recently went this summer after a few years of not going frequently and I fell
in love again. Life in Barbados is less stressful and the island is filled with the friendliest people.
Being there this summer really allowed me to sit back and appreciate the beauty of everything
around me, something I fail to do as frequent in America. This goes hand in hand with my value
of simplicity. I think that keeping this value of simplicity will help keep positive emotions in my
life. I see all of my family that moved to New York moving back to Barbados and we'll spend
hours at the beach each day. Family is something that also kept popping up throughout the
various activities as something that would make my life more meaningful. Coming from a close
knit family has really made me all that I am today which is why my future is going to consist of a
family of my own. I love the thought of family constantly building each other up and starting a

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family in Barbados surrounded by those I love is the perfect start to my meaningful future.
Hopefully I can make the move within 5 years after college.
In my future the relationships I surround myself with will make me most proud. I want to
keep in touch with the friends I have now but I do not want there to be a point in my life where I
ever stop making relationships and connections. I will have a trustworthy group of friends that
will watch my family grow and vice-versa. One of my Character Strengths is social intelligence.
This strength is described as knowing how to fit in with different "social situations" and also
putting others at ease. Now that I know this is a strength I possess I can be certain that my future
holds these relationships. When I have children I am going to instill in them the top values that
my family have instilled in me. These values include community, creativity, honesty, and
reliability. Some things that I want my children's life to include are family game nights and I also
want to make sure that every weekend includes something fun and/or family orientated. I've
heard the saying "Happy wife, Happy life" thousands of times so I also want to make sure I have
date nights when I'm married. Also when I'm married I want to make sure that any problem or
argument I get into with my wife is one that I would go to any lengths to resolve. I will feel most
accomplished by upholding these values.
Leadership was one of my top character strengths. I have done multiple volunteering
services and I know I am most happy seeing others happy. My career in the future should
accurately reflect this. I am going to graduate from UNCC with a criminal Justice/Criminology
degree and find a job where I am helping my community by becoming a prominent leader. I'm
not quite sure exactly what job I want but I know that it has to impact more people than just
myself. My second character strength was 'hope, optimism and future-mindedness' so I know that

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whatever job I have it will be a part of the master plan in shaping a happy me. I can see myself
becoming a mentor to young black males because I had mentors throughout my adolescence that
have kept me on the right path, Mr. Parkins, Coach Fowler and Mr. Reddig, to name a few.
Through the right moves for youth program these mentors made sure I stayed away from trouble
and put me in activities when they recognized my potential.
In order to truly make my life meaningful outside of just a career I want to make sure I
never give up my hobbies. Music is something that is in my culture and I never want to stop
learning about it. I see myself producing music for not only myself but for others. I want to be
advanced enough in producing that I can teach the skill to many. Another hobby my future is
going to hold is art. Since I was a kid drawing has been a way for me to express myself. It wasn't
until my artwork became really good that I thought I could make a career out of a passion. Even
with art, something that is so personal, I still see my future self wanting to use art somehow to
make those around me happy. My character test revealed that I have a strength in bravery and
valor. Even though music and art may be hard hobbies to make into careers I know that I will
face it head on and accept the challenge!
Through watching some of the real life inquiry projects in class I have learned more
things that will make my future meaningful. The minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan
Nicodemus, reminded me that I dont want to waste my life on the stereotypical idea of richness.
Having the newest shoes, biggest house or fanciest car without any self worth or meaning is not
how I want to be in the future. Another real life inquiry that spoke to me was that of Rich Roll.
Rich spoke about how admitting his defeat made him face his problems head on and over come

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them. I want to live with this mindset to make sure I am the happiest I can be. I never realized
the power in admitting defeat until now!
When things get rough in my life I always find the meaning behind the hardships.
Hopefully this essay will allow me to avoid some of the rough times by letting me think about
finding meaning before I have to face them. Knowing that I find meaning in Family, Culture,
leadership, and compassion will help me get all I want out of life.