Have you ever watched a movie, saw a motivational video on YouTube, or read a book that completely changed the way you look at life? How long did your new enlightenment last before you felt you were right back where you started? Who told you about the movie, video, or book? What made you actually decide to take action and expose yourself to the new material?
After graduating college I have read, watched, listened, and studied several different materials. I wasn’t aware of it at the time exactly, but it was all aimed towards finding meaning.
Typically books follow a single or select few principles to talk to the reader about. That gives the book focus and meaning. The interesting thing is I found that no matter the book that I read – life is complicating and difficult enough that a single book was never quite enough for me to understand how I’m supposed to live a fulfilling life. At first I was searching for that one video, or read one awesome book that would completely change my life and answer my every question forever. Or at a minimum, the purpose of my being here. I haven’t found one exclusive thing that gave me all I needed to know, but there are many good books and videos. You just have to learn, experiment, and connect the dots yourself. I think that’s the only way to really discover meaning.
As soon as we think we get a handle on life – something happens that tests you and can easily shake the belief you currently hold. Then it’s a new book, a new journal entry, and then experimenting with the new idea.
I hope through the various materials available to us today, we can discover more truths to some of the toughest of questions life has for us.