Uncover Life’s True Meaning

Written By Feliz Borja
Uncover Life’s True Meaning

Feeling lonely, stressed, or disconnected? Ready to uncover the secrets of a fulfilled and empowered life? Join us and uncover how you can have a life well-lived. Learn what motivates you to pursue your purpose and quit sabotaging your dreams. 

“I really had absolutely nothing and thought life was over. I was strung out and weighed 83 pounds. I was a mess. It was decades ago, and I was able to get out of that and slowly build up a life." – Lauren Abrams (01:14).

"If you put a fake smile on your face, that in itself will release dopamine. So if you're not laughing, just stick a fake smile on your face, and that releases dopamine, and that's a way to feel better instantly."    – Lauren Abrams (06:28).

Listen and learn about facing challenges head-on. The only way through anything tough in life is to go through it—there are no shortcuts. But here's the silver lining: each challenge we face builds resilience and brings profound personal growth. We’re not alone—we have each other.

You get to align with your true path. Whatever your passion or calling, take that first step today! Even 15 minutes each day can set powerful changes into motion. Life is about action and savoring the journey, not just waiting for the perfect moment.

“If there's something that you want to do and you're cringing about whether to say it, that means you're being all the more authentic, so do it.”– Lauren Abrams (22:26).

In this richly woven episode, Lauren draws from her own transformative experiences and the wisdom shared by her guests to reveal overarching life lessons. Discover how humor, community, and resilience play pivotal roles in leading a balanced and joyful life.

“Simplicity and community are core to longevity and happiness." – Lauren Abrams (05:21).

Uncover how laughter can lighten your spirit, how community shields us from loneliness, and why facing challenges head-on leads to unparalleled personal growth. Learn actionable tips to elevate your mental and emotional wellness immediately!

“Feeling your emotions fully, even for just 90 seconds, can be a powerful tool for emotional healing.” – Lauren Abrams (11:48).

Love always wins. Helping others, showing kindness, and spreading love always enriches your life. Acts of service bring unmatched fulfillment and a sense of connection to something greater than yourself.

“We are resilient by nature, and our greatest growth stems from overcoming our toughest obstacles.” – Lauren Abrams (12:46).

“Send love to anything else if you're having some kind of resentment or anger; just close your eyes and send that love.”– Lauren Abrams (23:10).

“If you feel a feeling and feel where it is in your body, close your eyes when it especially when it's intense and feel where it is and just slow down and really feel it and feel it all the way through, and then let that feeling go through, then you're creating new neurotransmitters in your brain and you're never gonna feel it in exactly the same way again, and that's growth too." – Lauren Abrams (11:49).

Prepare to feel encouraged as Lauren shares these invaluable life lessons and provides practical tools to help you live your best, most hopeful life.

Take a step towards a transformative journey. Tune in now and embrace these uplifting messages that resonate with our deepest human experiences.

“Love and service will always prevail. They are the cornerstones of a fulfilling life.” – Lauren Abrams (18:47).

Tune in to the latest episode of 52 Weeks of Hope and uncover these life-changing messages!

In this episode:

  • (01:02) The meaning of life part two

  • (02:08) Personal journey and overcoming challenges

  • (08:06) Why community is vital for your well-being.

  • (11:01) The only way through is through

  • (13:07) Healing tools and modalities

  • (14:00) Life is to be lived, not watched, and why!

  • (16:51) Self-compassion and positive affirmations

  • (18:46) How loving and serving others enriches your life.

  • (21:29) Building resilience to lead a more fulfilling life.

  • (22:25) Embracing your true self despite the discomfort it might bring.

  • (23:10) Love and service

  • (23:10) A sneak peek into what's coming next.

  • (24:04) Messages of gratitude

  • (24:04) Staying connected

Resources and Links 

52 Weeks of Hope

If you want to start your Podcast

Here's a sneak peek at 5 keys you'll take away from this episode:

  • Discover why maintaining a sense of humor is essential for a long, healthy, happy life.

  • Learn how building and maintaining a supportive community can dramatically improve your well-being.

  • Understand why facing challenges head-on is crucial for personal growth and how the community can support you through tough times.

  • From yoga to breathwork, find out which healing practices might be calling your name and why they all work wonders.

  • Get motivated to step off the sidelines and take action toward your dreams, no matter how big or small.

Are you feeling lonely, stressed, or disconnected? Ready to uncover the secrets of a fulfilled and empowered life? You'll find solace and inspiration in this episode!

Key Takeaways 

"Nobody on their deathbed ever wished they'd worked harder or made more money.” – Lauren Abrams, (2:55).

“Life is to be lived, not watched on the sidelines, so get out there.” – Lauren Abrams, (21:55).

 Mentioned Episodes

  • Lauren Abrams: [00:00:00] Welcome to 52 weeks of Hope. This is where you get to hear how to feel happy, balanced and worthwhile. How to make that lonely ache vanish and feel empowered, confident and secure. I'm Lauren Abrams and I get to help you feel that magic again. Since going through my own dark night of the soul by chatting with incredible leaders, healers, and change agents who give us their messages of hope after overcoming challenges of their own. And today I've compiled the messages from incredible leaders, healers, and change agents, and I've put them together into overarching messages of hope that I'm going to share with you today. And I'm calling them The Meaning of Life, Part two. I did this over a year ago, and I've gleaned all these messages. I've compiled them together, and it's really incredible how these messages can be put together into overarching messages that I want to share with you. And the reason it's so incredible is people that live the longest, healthiest, and happiest lives in the blue zones have similar messages that come across. So anyone who doesn't know me, I'm just going to do the truncated version that I'm Lauren Abrams and my story in the very short form, It's in the first episode. I'm somebody, I used to live in an abandoned house and sleep on a dirt floor. I really had absolutely nothing and thought life was over. I was strung out 83 pounds. I was a mess. It was decades ago, and I was able to get out of that and slowly build up a life, put myself through college and law school and got married, had kids, got divorced and had a thriving law practice. I have one and am just always incredibly grateful for my life. I just couldn't believe I survived all of that and always giving back. I didn't know there was a way out and when I found out there was, I was shocked. I didn't know anybody was like me. And there were others like me. I was so different and alone. And once I started talking about what was going on with me, I found out there's other people. It felt exactly the same way, which we always talk about on the podcast, because when I think I'm the only one that feels the way I do it. Surprise! There are millions of people that feel the same way as me. It's like imposter syndrome. And when I think I'm the only one that feels like I do, it's like I know lots of people. But anyway. And I ended up raising my kids and having this business and giving back and doing all of this. And I went through this dark night of this all because everyone goes through it. Nobody escapes life unscathed, especially these days. And the only way through is through, which is one of the messages which I'm going to get to. If there was a way around or to jump over or anything else, I certainly would have found it. But the only way through was through. And when I got through it, I was like, what the hell was that? And I went through my own kind of soul searching, like, why are we here? And I thought, I'm going to go and interview a personal week of a much older demographic and ask them what they'd gleaned from living life. They say nobody on their deathbed ever wishes they'd worked harder or made more money. So I wanted to know, like, what have you learned from living life? Tell me. I need to know. And I thought, all right, I'm going to interview a person a week for a year and ask them just that question. I'm not a dyer, but I thought that it's as close as I'll get to dying and just ask them that question. And so I started doing that, just interviewing a person a week, and people would reveal the most personal information to me. I'm not a shrink or psychiatrist or anything like that, but they would tell me all this incredible, just really rich information, and I would go home and I would write it up. Sometimes I'd send it to my best friend in my own verbiage of what they had told me, which is kind of funny, but not always not making fun of them. And after two and a half months, the messages started to be kind of similar and I thought, this is so good, it's so rich. I'll write one of those books, one of those books where you open it up and you say, that's just what I needed to hear. You close it, you open it again and you're like, no, that's what I needed to hear. And I'll call it 52 Weeks of Hope. And then Covid hit and I pivoted because that's what we do in life. We pivot. And I started the podcast 52 Weeks of  Hope. And I just love podcasting. I just love it. It lights me up and I get to talk to the most amazing, amazing people. And I wasn't limited to just Los Angeles. I could talk to people from all over the world and you get to hear them in half the time. I think it's for me. I've learned so many incredible tools and such interesting information. And so what I've done after the first 52 weeks, what I did was I compiled a list of all the overarching messages of hope, and I put them together into ten messages, and I call them the meaning of life. And I was like, I got it. I now know the meaning of life. And what I'm doing now is I'm taking the 91 messages, and I'm giving you the overarching messages that I have cleaned so far from these weeks, because there's a couple more that I want to incorporate in, especially I don't know if you heard David Romanoff, but he's written three books about interviewing elders and their messages. And so I wanted to compare him. Well, this is what I've gotten. What have you gotten? And I've also interviewed a lot of change agents and healers and just. Messages. So there's so much going on these days, and I want to incorporate some ways to feel better now. I like to feel better quickly, like okay, so how can we get there? And so I've got some good healing tools and so on that I want to give to you now. And if you've got some other messages or some things that you want to hear, just let me know. I am definitely open to receiving from you as well. So the first thing I'm going to start with is our minds. I'll start with David Romanoff and just let you know that one of the things that I have found and he has learned is a sense of humor. Having a sense of humor is just so important. Having a schwa V is what he put it. And I just love that. And his episode is amazing if you haven't heard it, just lining up and knowing it all passes. Everything we're going through passes and being able to laugh. I laugh at myself. My kids always talk about how I mean, definitely I laugh, I laugh at my stuff more than anybody else, so feel free to laugh at me, I don't care. I think I'm the funniest person more than anybody else thinks I'm funny and so laugh. Even if you just put it on. I put this in this week's newsletter. If you don't, I mean newsletter, it's an email that's like a paragraph or two. Log is all it is. If you're not part of the email that I send out with just a few tips and things like that, and, and just to be in the know, you can go to the website at 52 weeks of hope.com and, and I send that out. It's definitely not a newsletter. It's an email with a paragraph or two. But I just put in there, if you put a fake smile on your face, that in itself will release dopamine. So if you're not laughing, just stick a fake smile on your face. And that releases dopamine. And that's a way to feel better instantly. So there's a quick little tip I made listening to this worth it right there. Just if you don't feel like smiling, it doesn't matter. Stick a fake smile on her face. They fake it to you. Yeah, I know I've had some people that have flat out said I don't believe in fake it til you make it. But you know, sometimes these days that's what we have to do also in the newsletter and this is an aside grounding putting your feet in earth on the ground that has the same kind of effect. It's like getting a little bit of vitamin D. I know they say I'm not going to get into climate change and all of that, but getting a little vitamin D and putting your feet in the earth, that also makes us feel better. And anyway, I'm not going to do any more of an aside, but a sense of humor. It's vital. It's how people keep that lightness of spirit and it feels good. Why wouldn't you want to laugh? That's one of the messages. One of the number one messages is. So that's number one. Number two, I'm not rating these, by the way. I'm just giving you numbers to delineate. So number two community, community and is one of the absolute top messages of what we need in life. We are not meant to isolate. We are meant to be together. So isolation is not good for us. Texting is not. It doesn't count as having community actually being together and having community. So that's why in the blue zones where people live the longest, they have community. And I thought, oh, they must be areas where it's warm weather and you can really commute. No, it's surprising to me that the places if you look up the blue zones, just Google it. It's cold weather. I was so shocked. But anyway, so having that community and if you listen to Rabbi Chasen, he talks about how to keep the community going. And that's a really good episode. So is and I don't mean to just say the rabbis, you can create community anywhere and you don't have to invent the wheel. There are so many incredible creative ways to keep a community alive, even if there's Covid outbreaks where you are or whatever is happening, whatever your interest is, you can Google whatever that interest is and you can create community. I don't know if you heard the Matt Mills episode, but he started a running club not to sell anything or to do anything other than he just put it out there, hey, I'm going running every day of the week. It was in the city he lives in, and he just because he wanted people to run with. So whatever it is that you're doing and you're interested in, you can create community. It's not a difficult thing. So I was just at a retreat last week and being around so many like minded people, it was for meditation and mindfulness, loving kindness, and it's called The Power of Awareness. It was amazing and I don't like being alone now. I thought I kind of did, I thought I got used to it, but I crave community. So I made sure to get out and to be with other people and, and other like minded people that are going to raise ourselves up. And, and I've stayed off of social media because it's, it's just beside it being a time suck. It's a negative. It's a complete negative in my life. That's me. I'm not going to judge anyone else. I mean, I talk to amazing, incredible people. Melissa Hughes and Kat Chanu. If you haven't heard either of those episodes, they're amazing influencers on social media, so I'm not going to say anything about them. So we need connection, and I love people that are real isolators. Their solution to isolation is more isolation. So it's why we need each other because we need reminders of why it's not good for us. So that's one of the messages. All right. The only way through is through. That is what I said earlier. If there was a way around, I'd have found it. But we all go through different periods in our life. And so it's I will put a segue here that that's why we need each other, because when we're going through it, we don't have to go through it alone. I don't know if you heard Doctor V's episode. Oh my gosh, that was incredible what she went through, but she didn't go through it alone. She had her own community and her family. And sometimes we can make our own families, too. Yeah, the only way through is through, and we have to get through it. And when you listen to anybody or you talk to the elders, nobody goes through this life unscathed. But it's through her biggest challenges that that's how we get the most growth. Look back at what you've been through, think of your hardest challenges. And when you get to the other side, that's where the growth comes and you get through it. Listen to JJ Duncan's episode. I mean, she's amazing and I mean she is a storyteller, but her episodes are amazing and it also shows resilience. That's Amberly Lago too. We are a resilient species. That's definitely one of the other messages that comes through in every single episode that were resilient. And when you listen to every episode, you can get that. And Joey Klein, I don't know if you heard him that was recent. He talks about how the life of an emotion is the 90s. It's a story we attach to an emotion. And so if you feel a feeling and feel where it is in your body, close your eyes. When it's especially intense and feel where it is and just slow down and really feel it and feel it all the way through and then let that feeling go through. Then you're creating new neurotransmitters in your brain, and you're never going to feel it in exactly the same way again. And that's growth too. So then you've gone through the feeling and you get to grow. And this is how we experience life in a different way. So even with different political things that are going on, when if you feel something come up, say, oh, that's interesting, you can close your eyes and go, that's interesting and put your hand on your heart, give yourself grace and just kind of feel the feeling and say, oh, it's interesting. Where is that in my body? And these are different tools you can use as you go through your feelings and really notice them and slow down and breathe, breathe into them. We've had so many different breathwork people and EFT tapping, and those are all on the Facebook page or on YouTube. There's actual modalities, which is another I'll segue into the next. One of the other topics is no matter what modality you're called to yoga, EFT, tapping, breathwork, whatever it is you're called to, it works. They all work. Whatever you're called to, whichever one you're called to for a reason, use it. I've gotten such an education here. I think I will always notice my breath from here on out. I mean, I did my meditation anyway, and I love yoga. I don't practice it enough, but we've had great yoga people on here, and the Facebook page also has all these different sessions. When I've done live, live streams on here, all those live on the Facebook page, and they're also on YouTube and the 52 weeks to help YouTube. So you can always visit and do the breathwork sessions or the EFT tapping, or all the different modalities we've had on here over this period of time. Anyway, they all work and they're all great. So whatever you're called to. Yeah. Use them. All right. Next thing is life is to be lived. It is not to be watched on the sidelines. If you listen to a lot of episodes, you hear me say, God doesn't drive parked cars. You can't sit in a corner going, God, please give me this job. God, I really want to do this. Wherever it is that you really want to do, take action. For some reason, I don't know how it works, but it works. If there's something you're really wanting to do when you feel called to do it, start taking action in that direction and the energy of the universe starts rising up to meet you towards that dream or goal. I don't know how that works, but it just does. I wanted to podcast and everything just started happening. I mean, people I wanted to interview, they show up, the right people start showing up, everything starts showing up. So if you have a dream or goal you want to do, start taking that action. Even 15 minutes a day in that direction will get you there. It just will. You don't need to just wish for it. It's life's action and it's a journey. So try to enjoy it. It's not about the destination, it's about the journey. I know how hokey that sounds, so. But Heart to Heart talks about it. And she says she's very successful and it's a great episode from early on. And yeah, life is in session and it's not to be watched on the sidelines. It's about taking the action in direction, in the direction of whatever it is that you want to do. If you feel like you're not aligned with what you're meant to be doing while you're here taking action. And if you're not sure what that is, there's an e-book on the website to help you just figure that out. There's also a new quiz on the website. Do you self-sabotage? So that one's real good too? Another one of the messages is we become less hard on ourselves over time. So that's kind of a self-compassion thing, which is really, really great. Okay, so I don't know if you heard Deborah Hurwitz  . She also has a live stream, so there's some extra bonus from her, but she talks about perfectionism and procrastination being the flip side of the same coin, that a lot of people won't start something they really want to do because they want to do it perfectly, which I found fascinating. I don't think I'm a perfectionist at all. I'm always amazed at anything I do. Yeah, so I guess I have vocal low goals for myself early on, but I just find that fascinating. My daughter doesn't agree with that, but I talked about it a lot. So yeah, I just find that interesting. I'm curious what you think, but she talks about that. How? Yeah, perfectionism and procrastination being the flip side of the same coin. So I don't know. Do you not start things because you're a perfectionist? I'm very curious about that. Okay. So the next thing is don't listen to the negative self-talk in your head. If your head starts going on and on, give positive time to affirmations to whatever it is, there's no reason to listen to it. You're great. You're put on this earth for a reason. Nobody can do what you can do the way you can do it. So when your head starts going with the negative self-talk, you can thank you for sharing and then move on. But try to give equal weight to some fabulous things about you because you are great. No one has your handprint. Nobody can say the things you can say the way you can say them in your own unique way. So go ahead and give equal time or even more time to something. The great things about you and we have all kinds of affirmations. If you need more, you can look at just on instead there's there's always affirmations being put up on the Insta page. If you need more, I can let you know, but you're great. Just say I am great. Look in the mirror. Look at your eyeballs, not at your hair or anything. It's surrounding or what you're wearing. Look at your eyeballs and say I am great and then add to it. Say, I've got this. I'm focused. Whatever you need, just say that into your eyeball. Say it all the time. When you're in a red light and in the rearview mirror, say, I'm great. The universe has my back. The future is as great is right now because all we have is right now. And it is great. So the biggest messages of all from all of this is love and service. Love always wins. It just does. So if somebody's pissing you off. Close your eyes and send them love. Send everyone love. Just send them love. If you're in a relationship, it doesn't matter what kind of relationship. Kids partner, someone at work, whatever it is. Write a gratitude list to them. It raises your vibration. It raises the vibration of the world. It works. Gratitude lists always work. And if you're really mad at your partner, write a list of everything you're grateful for for them. You will be amazed when you finish. You won't be mad at them anymore. It's like when you write a letter of everything that you appreciate about someone. You will never feel the same about them again. So love and service is everything. Sending love to someone. Putting love out love is what takes care of hate. Love always wins. And the service portion is doing for others. Doing for others will make you feel better about yourself 100% of the time. It just does. There was a thing about doing for somebody else and not getting found out doing nice things. It's the pay it forward or buying coffee at a coffee place and, you know, say, oh, buy coffee for the person behind me or not. And then just leaving and they don't even know who you are. Now those things feel great. So I don't drink coffee, but it's a fun thing to do. You get the idea. Paying for something little or big or there's somebody. It's just you leave a $5 bill someplace and not know who's going to find it. And I like to do that in an area where they definitely need it, not a high end area. So those are just some ideas. So I'm going to read you a little something that I wrote that was in this past week's email, because I want to wish this to you. It's just a little something to take in, but celebrate the courage and compassion of the collective and the appreciation of differences. Let us stand up for one another and live a life of mutual respect. Wherever you are, may you be held. Loving kindness may be safe and protected. May you be well, may be at ease. May you be happy. Until next week when we have as a guest Chris Shelton, who's amazing and he talks about at the very end of his episode, what I really I mean, I loved him, we had so much fun, especially afterwards because he and his wife. Their number one disagreement is the same. It was bizarre as we had Scott with the temperature. I'm always called Scott and he and his wife had the same thing and he was talking about how, oh, nature loves it cold and this and that. I said, yeah, right now your wife and I are totally bonding. We're BFFs anyway. But he was talking about how nature balances itself. He had been explaining some things to his kids, and he was saying, yeah, they were asking him questions. And that episode will be next week. Before we get there, though, let's just do a quick recap, because these are such simple tools to use when you're not feeling okay or your mindset needs a shift. So remember a sense of humor just that short of an even if it's just a fake smile that you're putting on your face community. That's one of the number one lessons through in the Blue Zones, where people live the longest and are the happiest and healthiest that we need each other. We really do. Feel free to go on the Facebook group and be a part of our community, or go to 52 weeks, I hope.com. We would love to have you join us. That is the only way through. There's no way to dance around it or anything else. Just lean in, feel your feelings. They only last 90s, it's the stories that we attach to them. I was always told that feelings peak for five minutes. Whatever it is, as long as we feel them and go through that, there's a better life on the other side of those feelings, and that we are a resilient species, that we can get through anything. Number five, whatever modality you're called to, they all work. If it's no matter what it is, you have to tap yoga breathwork. I mean, there's just so many different modalities. Those are the few that I've mentioned here that life is to be live, not watched on the sidelines. So get out there. Just as another really quick aside, something else that I've learned is that if you're worried what people will think about you, nobody's thinking about you. And I don't mean that in a mean way. Everyone's thinking about themselves. So the more authentic and real you can be, the more people will identify with you, and the more that life really does reach up to meet you at whatever it is that you're trying to do. So it's really an incredible thing that all those things that make you cringe. I have my friend Billy. He always says, if there's something that you want to do and you're cringing about whether to say it, that means you're being all the more authentic. So do it. If it's got that kind of cringe ability to it, yeah, that's more authentic. So go for it. Walk through that fear. That's the fear. Don't listen to any of the negative self-talk. That's a good segue to that because that's your head going, oh my gosh, don't do that. What will people think? Who cares? Nobody's paying any attention. If they think about it. They'll think about it for a half a second and then keep going. And they're not going to think about it again. Think about how much time you'll give to something else that you peripherally know they don't. Nobody's thinking about it. And then along with the community, what's most important is love and service that send love to anything else. If you're having some kind of resentment, anger or anything else, send love to it. Just close your eyes. Send that love. So hopefully this is helpful. If you've got anything to add, I would love to hear it anyway. He's a Tai Chi Master qigong and he's so well known and he's amazing. And he's going to talk to you about healing and in so many different ways and things that you can do. And he's amazing. You're going to love the episode, but he was answering different questions. And I hope you enjoyed this week's episode and take with you the messages of gratitude, community, and hope such great messages to take into your week ahead. Be sure to tune in next week and get back to your clear, confident, vibrant self. You get to stop feeling sluggish and out of alignment. You're going to love listening to Chris Shelton. Just like I said, his holistic teachings are designed to get you out of stress and pain and into your highest natural state of well-being. You get to learn how to love life at whole new levels. He's so amazing and you get to recreate the life of your dreams. Be sure to get on the email list like I was talking about. That way you don't miss anything and it's on the website at 52 weeks of hope.com. That way you get to be in the know. And like I said earlier, there's also a quiz on there of when do you self-sabotage? That's on the website at 52 weeks of hope.com. If you're driving you can always text 66866 text 52 hope to 66866 and you can get in touch with and get on the email list that way too. If you're enjoying the podcast, share the love and tell two of your friends. I'm Lauren Abrams. Thanks for listening.

Feliz Borja
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When Your Journey Feels Like a Rut: New Choices for Finding a More Fulfilling Path