Three ways to find meaning

"An [1] active life serves the purpose of giving man the opportunity to realise values in creative work, while [2] a passive life of enjoyment affords him the opportunity to obtain fulfilment in experiencing beauty, art or nature. But there is also purpose in that life which is almost barren of both creation and enjoyment and which admits of but one possibility of high moral behaviour: namely, in man's attitude to his existence, an existence restricted by external forces. A creative life and a life of enjoyment are banned things. But not only creativeness and enjoyment are meaningful. If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be [3] a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete." — Viktor Frankl 'Man's Search for Meaning'

 

According to Frankl's doctrine meaning is derived from three things: First, the things you do. Second, the things you enjoy. Third, how you deal with suffering.

 

Meaning in the things you do: This is as much a question of how you do the things you do, as it is what things you do. To corrupt Lincoln at Gettysburg: You will find meaning when you do things of God, for God and by God's power. In this way meaning triumphs banality. In this way meaning becomes universal. It is available to all and it is available in all situations. It is not the preserve of the gifted, the talented, the fortunate, the rich, the celebrity, the exciting, the adventurous. Meaning is latent everywhere and at all times. Done humbly unto God all things possess meaning.

 

Meaning in things you enjoy: God's divinity is made patent in so many events of life. A day cannot pass without God expressing Himself in the jurisdiction of our lives. There He will appear. His fingertips dripping paint over a sunrise; His voice in beautiful music; His personableness in a conversation. All of these things sound in who God is. Whether the recipient perceives this connection to God or not does not change their significance. Some revelation perceived of who He is, with or without attribution to Him, is sufficient to cause the slaking of that perennial aching: Meaning or contact with Significance. In His mercy He allows us to feel this even when we cannot make the connection back to Him.

 

Meaning in suffering: Suffering is the chance to affirm the ancient truth that God is in supreme control. Colloquially one might say that 'It's all going to be ok'. Because suffering is defined as everything that God is not it presents the opportunity for a soul to declare what God is. So sharp are these poles between What-God-is-not (suffering) and What-God-is that the most dramatic representations of who God often exist in moments of suffering. The light shines brightest in the darkness. The contrast of Who-God-is is most striking against situations of God-is-not-that. Far from disproving the existence of a loving God, suffering is the very proof of everything God is not.