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Building Meaning in Life: A Perspective Shift

9 March 2025 · 49 views · 0 likes · 0 reposts · 107 blog views

Blogging Content Indie Hacking Talks curious product

I stumbled upon this quote from John W. Gardner:

Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something.

I think this is something you really start to understand as you get older. When you're young, meaning feels like something you’re supposed to find, like it’s hidden somewhere and you just have to look hard enough. But over time, you realize it’s something you create - through the choices you make, the people you care about, and the things you’re willing to put effort into. It’s a perspective shift that makes life feel less like a puzzle to solve and more like a project you get to build.

What do you think? Have you ever had a moment where you realized you were building meaning rather than just searching for it?

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