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Have you ever felt it? That quiet, heavy
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emptiness inside, like something is
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missing, but you can't name what it is.
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You look around, your life seems fine.
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Your job, your relationships, your daily
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routine. Yet deep down, there's a silent
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ache. A feeling of being lost. If you
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felt this, Victor Frankle would tell
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you, "You're not broken. You're not
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ungrateful. You're just missing one
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essential thing. Meaning." Frankle, a
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psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor,
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dedicated his life to answering one
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question. What truly makes life worth
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living? He wrote, "Life is never made
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unbearable by circumstances, but only by
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lack of meaning and purpose.
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It's not your job, your partner, your
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bank account, or your followers that
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truly fill you. It's the sense that your
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life has a deeper why. So why do so many
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of us feel empty today?" Because we've
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been taught to chase pleasure, not
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purpose. Comfort, not contribution,
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validation, not vocation. We fill our
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lives with noise, but deep down our soul
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is starving. Frankle called this the
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existential vacuum. A space where we've
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lost connection to meaning. He saw it
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everywhere. People numbing themselves
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with distractions, working jobs that
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drain them, staying in relationships
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that don't grow them, scrolling
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endlessly, hoping something will make
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them feel alive again. But nothing
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external can fill a spiritual void. And
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here's the paradox. The more you chase
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pleasure, the emptier you feel because
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you were not designed to just feel good.
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You were designed to live meaningfully.
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So, what can you do? Here are five
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timeless lessons from Frankle to help
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you find meaning and finally feel full.
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Lesson number one, stop asking what can
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I get from life and start asking what
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Frankle believed meaning isn't something
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we find passively. It's something we
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create by serving something larger than
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ourselves, a person, a cause, a creative
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mission. He wrote, "The meaning of life
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is to give life meaning."
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When you focus on contribution instead
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of consumption, your soul starts to wake
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up. Lesson number two, embrace your
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suffering and transform it. Frankle
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survived unimaginable pain and yet he
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found meaning even there. He taught that
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we cannot always control our
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circumstances. But we can choose how we
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respond when you see suffering as an
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opportunity to grow, to deepen, to help
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others. It stops being just pain and
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becomes purpose. Lesson number three,
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find meaning in love and connection.
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Frankle believed love is one of the
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deepest sources of meaning. Not just
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romantic love, but the love you bring to
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every interaction. A moment of kindness
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to a stranger, a deep conversation with
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a friend, a silent act of compassion. He
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wrote, "Love is the only way to grasp
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another human being in the innermost
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core of his personality. When you love
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fully, you live fully." Lesson number
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four, live for a future goal that calls
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you forward. Frankle noticed that
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prisoners who survived had something to
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live for. Loved one, a dream, a
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responsibility. This future vision gave
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them strength beyond what the body alone
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could endure. Ask yourself, what future
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vision calls me forward? What would I
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fight to see or create before I die?
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When you have a why, you can bear almost
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any how. Lesson number five, choose your
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attitude always. Even in the darkest
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conditions, Frankle insisted on this
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ultimate freedom, the power to choose
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your response. You may not control what
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happened, but you can always control who
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you become because of it. This choice is
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what transforms emptiness into
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possibility. So what does this look like
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in everyday life? Here are five simple
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ways to live Frankle's wisdom. Ask each
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morning, "How can I serve today?" Shift
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from why is this happening to me to what
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is this asking of me? Practice presence.
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Find meaning in small everyday moments.
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Set one purpose-driven goal, no matter
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how small. Remind yourself daily, I can
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choose my response. Frankle wrote, "When
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we are no longer able to change a
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situation, we are challenged to change
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The emptiness you feel is not a sign
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you're broken. It's a signal, a whisper
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from your soul, calling you to deeper
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meaning." So today, ask yourself, "What
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am I living for beyond comfort? What
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would make me proud to look back on at
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the end of my life? How can I turn my
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daily existence into a story worth
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telling?" Because you are not here to
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just exist. You are here to create, to
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love, to serve, to grow. If this
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resonated with you, comment below. I
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choose a life of meaning. And remember,
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a full life isn't about filling your
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schedule. It's about filling your soul.
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Until next time, stay true, stay
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purposeful, and keep becoming.
