Finding Meaning in Small Things
|1 min read
Viktor Frankl spent time in concentration camps. When I reread Man's Search for Meaning, it hit me: if he found meaning there, what excuse do I have?
He didn't find meaning in grand achievements. He found it in:
- Noticing a sunset through a prison fence
- Helping another prisoner
- Knowing he'd survive to tell the story
The biggest insight: meaning isn't something you find. It's something you assign.
A routine code review isn't meaningful because it's inherently special. It's meaningful because I choose to see it as:
- An opportunity to help a teammate grow
- A chance to catch bugs early
- A way to spread knowledge
This reframing changed how I approach work. The task doesn't grant meaning. I do.
When you're stuck in a boring meeting or debugging something tedious, try this: What meaning can I assign to this right now? Not pretend meaning. Real meaning that matters to you.
That's freedom.