The Importance of a “Sense of Personal Meaningfulness”

Existentialism is a philosophical movement that claims that individual human beings have full responsibility for creating the meanings of their own lives. It is a reaction against more traditional philosophies, such as rationalism and empiricism, which sought to discover an ultimate order in metaphysical principles or in the structure of the observed world. The movement had its origins in the 19th century thought of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche and was prevalent in Continental philosophy. In the 1940s and 1950s, French philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Albert Camus wrote scholarly and fictional works that helped to popularize themes associated with existentialism: "dread, boredom, alienation, the absurd, freedom, commitment, [and] nothingness."

This notion – the importance of a sense of personal meaningfulness – is pivotal to living a good, healthy, happy and meaningful life. Interestingly, it became abundantly clearer to me when I was writing a pop-psych book I published in 2002, Ultimate Challenges: After the Fall. The following description, written by the publisher, is on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com where the book can be obtained very easily.

Mark Shepherd (a Five Time Gold Medalist in Wheelchair Basketball), Ted Henter (a Seven-Time National and One-Time World Blind Water Skiing Champion), Mike Hudson (a National Champion - One Arm Golfer), Bonnie St. John Deane (an Elite Disabled Snow Skier) who skis on one leg, and Tony Volpentest (a Two-Time Paralympic World Record Holder in the 100 and 200 Meters) who runs on prosthetic legs and feet, are but five of the ten world class athletes showcased in this book. The character and essence of these remarkable individuals include courage, hard work, dedication, and commitment in confronting many of life’s Ultimate Challenges, not just in the gym, on the practice field, or in the arena, but every day, all day. To honor them, Dr. Emener is donating all of his royalties from the sale of this book to the United States Olympic Committee for the exclusive support of United States Paralympians.

The following, in Chapter 11, “Ultimate Challenges Revisited” is on pages 102-103:

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An obvious significant motivator for these athletes is a sense of personal meaningfulness. When Mark Shepherd is talking about his philosophy that adversity is a part of life, it is not always bad, and at times adversity can be a catalyst that ultimately makes us stronger as a person, he says:

We all want fifteen minutes of fame, as some people suggest. Yes, I have met the President of the United States and had dinner at the White House. But in the final analysis, when they put the last few nails in your pine box or the lid on your silver casket, what ever the case may be, it is the legacy you leave behind in the hearts and minds of people that counts! How you have made the world a better place in which to live or how you have helped improve the life of another person, is the true measure of your success as a person. It has been, and is, through disabled sports that my children and my family have become proud of me, and I have become so proud of myself.

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Question: What and how important are your “personal senses of meaningfulness” in your life?

Bill