Meaning

“I read this book called Man’s Search for Meaning, you ever heard of it?”
“No.”
“It’s about a psychologist who went through concentration camps during World War II.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it good?”
“Yeah. But it leaves you with a lot of questions.”
“Like what?”
“Like what your purpose in life is.”
“Makes sense for a book with a title like that.”
“But it doesn’t give you any clear direction, you know? Like, tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”
“That would be nice.”
“Right? It just says the meaning of life is to create your meaning. How am I supposed to know what to create?”
“That’s a tough question to answer.”
“Well what do you think it is?”
“For you or for me?”
“For me.”
“Oh, well . . . what about your work at the insurance company. You help a lot of people.”
“But that’s boring. It feels too much like work to be what I’m supposed to do. All those really successful people say that if you love your job you never work a day in your life. I know I go to work, so that can’t be it.”
“What about your friendships?”
“What about them?”
“You’ve always been a good friend to me and are always there for me when I need you. And I know the others think the same thing. What if that’s your meaning?”
“That’s not meaning, that’s just what you do with friends. Meaning has to be the thing that supports your life. Like an actor. They love to act and they get paid for it. I want something like that?”
“Then join an acting class.”
“I don’t actually want to be an actor, I just want something like that.”
“Well what do you like to do?”
“You know what I like to do. TV, reading, running, hanging out.”
“Could any of those be turned into a way to sustain yourself?”
“Not for the level that I do them at.”
“Then I don’t know what to tell you.”
“What, you’re just going to give up?”
“I don’t think the questions raised in that book were for other people to find out on your behalf.”
“So you’re saying it’s up to me?”
“It’s only ever been up to you.”
“How do you know that?”
“Life is all about the choices we make. And no matter what anybody says, you choose what you do with yourself. You can blame somebody for giving you some bad advice, but at the end of the day you were the one who chose to use it. So you have to take responsibility for what you do. The same goes for meaning. You can choose to give something meaning or not. If your job is just a job then it doesn’t have meaning. But if you choose to make it the most important thing in your life then own it. Draw satisfaction from it. Stop thinking about it as a drain on yourself that you must clock in for eight hours a day. Look at it as a boost. The same with friends, the same with everything. Give it meaning, and it will give back to you in ways you never imagined.”
“. . . What book is that from?”