How to Live a Meaningful Life

How do we live our life meaningfully? How exactly can we find things that give our life meaning, that
fill our heart with purpose, that guide our gaze towards what we find important and valuable in our
lives? The answers to this question is especially important nowadays, when the average individual
may easily become disillusioned, awakened by feelings of purposelessness, anhedonia, and
hopelessness.

One man who arose from the depths of concentration camps and spent years studying the topic of
meaning might have a solution. Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychologist who survived both Dachau
and Auschwitz, wrote extensively about man's search for meaning after the war. Despite the fact
that virtually all hope was lost in the Nazi death camps, Frankl discovered that people found
meaning in three ways: the creative, the experiential and the attitudinal.

In the creative dimension, achievements and accomplishments is the facilitator of meaning.

Specifically, we find meaning through that which we can give and contribute to the world. Perhaps
one finds meaning as a painter, capturing the complexity of the human condition on canvas. Or
perhaps one creates wonderful dishes, finding just as much joy in cooking as they do in eating. The
creative dimension, in this era of cheap and constant consumption, pushes and motivates us to give
back a little as well.

The focus of the experiential component, on the other hand, deals with what we take from the
world. The second way of finding meaning in life according to Frankel is by experiencing something
such as goodness, truth and beauty. Through experiencing nature, culture, and, more importantly,
by loving another human being in all their uniqueness. A trip to the museum, a walk in the park, or
just a moment of silent gratitude for those you love could easily fill pur heart with joy and give our
life meaning.

Finally, there is the attitudinal dimension, which is our attitude toward unavoidable suffering. When
we are unable to change a situation, Frankl firmly believes that all we can do is to change ourselves.
While Frankl makes it clear that suffering is not necessary for a meaningful life, he acknowledges its
potential to serve as a vessel for reflection and self-transformation. Nowadays, with constant news
of environmental disasters and geopolitical conflict, this final way to find meaning is needed now
more than ever. We must recognize such events as a call to find meaning in the suffering.

If one wishes to live a more meaningful life, I encourage them to reflect on Frankl's trichotomy - the
creative, that which we give to the world; the experiential, that which we take from the world; and
the attitudinal, the stand we take when the world kicks us down.