If you have been desperately searching for meaning but haven’t found it, I have some good news: Meaning isn’t something we “find.” Meaning is something we create through how we choose to show up and interact with the world. We need to recognize that our decisions carry weight and we have the power to create meaning through our actions. We have the freedom to attribute meaning to any event or thing (including a higher power).

If nothing is inherently meaningful, you get to choose what is.

In my new book, It’s on Me, I write: “Instead of asking, ‘What meaning can life offer me?’ let’s reframe the question as ‘What is life asking of me?’ Then, we get to choose how we respond. Meaning is an act of devotion in response to life’s questions—an ongoing process to understand the world and take responsibility for the way we choose to be in it. It’s how we choose to take care of our Selves, others, our society, and our planet.”