Guest Thought from Wayne at Q&A Blog

Note: My thanks to Wayne for allowing me to reprint his post at Questions and Answers. lgp

Always Ask, "Is It Meaningful?"

The other day I picked up the book by Dennis Prager*, Happiness is a Serious Problem, for a little light reading. I ran across a paragraph that got my attention.

To be a good person, it is always necessary to ask before doing something, "Is it right?" To be physically fit, it is necessary to ask before eating something, "Is it healthful?" To be a happy person, it is necessary to ask before acting, "Is it meaningful?" The problem, course, is that the good action, the healthful food, and the meaningful behavior are rarely the most enticing of our choices - which only proves, once again, that the greatest battle for happiness is with our own nature.

To live a life that is happy, we must take a look at everything we do and determine if it is meaningful. This does not mean that we can not have enjoyment and do some things that are frivolous; it means that the main things that we spend our time on must be meaningful to us and probably also to the world.

This is important to me and probably to most men. You see, most men with families have the responsibility to financially provide for their families. That often times means that they take jobs that pay the most money, not which provide any meaning for them. I know this from experience, and to some degree it is killing me.

So, how do you order your life so that you do the things that are of meaning? That is the quest that lies before me.

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* Happiness Is a Serious Problem, by Dennis Prager