A meaningful life
What I've got so far.
Reality can be very disappointing much of the time. We don’t get the promotion we want, we aren’t where we thought we would be in our lives or our careers; we don’t work out enough, learn enough or make enough money. And that’s just reality, it is the base from which we build the rest of our lives. The truth that we can take away from all of this is simple: losing is more frequent than winning and that success is not about either. The way to perceive in life is not through this lens but through the perspective of meaningful experience.
People who can overcome and adapt to situations do so because they believe that that situation is worth fighting for, that their lives have meaning. They may fail in their task but realize that perhaps even that failure had a reason. The job you didn’t get was because of something, the job you did get too. You were born for a reason and the circumstances of your birth were for a reason too. This reasoning, this meaning in our lives is what keeps us going. Have you ever had that feeling that if you had gotten what you wanted, you wouldn’t be as well off as you are now? This happens often and yet we whine and complain about our situation. Sometimes it is better to put control of such things in the hands of a higher power and focus our energies on more intermediate steps.
Lastly, the meaning behind life is largely hinged on improvisation and adaptaion - good ol’ fashioned winging it. Taking whatever life throws at us and making the most of it. If we cannot handle the change-ups we get from life, it will be very difficult to handle our success when it actually comes to us.