Just imagine that the purpose of your life is your happiness only—then life becomes a cruel and senseless thing. You have to embrace what the wisdom of humanity, your intellect, and your heart tell you: that the meaning of life is to serve the force that sent you into the world. Then life becomes a constant joy.

“Our happiness consists in fulfilling the purpose of our being,”

nothing motivates me more than trying to be that person for others. I am inspired by what the writer Leo Rosten once argued was the purpose of life: “to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

Happiness is about now. Meaning is often about our reflections on the past, the commitments we make in the present, and the way that we think about and shape the future.40 Happiness, however, can never replace meaning.