Meaning is not something handed to you. It’s not carved in stone or waiting to be discovered like buried treasure. Meaning is something you create, something you extract, something you decide. It is not universal. It is personal.

Two people can go through the same experience and walk away with completely different interpretations. One might find strength. The other, bitterness. One might call it a blessing. The other, a curse. The difference lies not in what happened, but in what was drawn from it. The meaning is the meaning you derive.

This concept challenges the idea that life is supposed to make sense on its own. It doesn’t. Events are neutral until we assign value to them. A rainy day could be miserable or calming. A failure could be a defeat or a redirection. The interpretation is what gives it weight.

Deriving meaning doesn’t mean pretending everything is positive. It means asking deeper questions. Why did this matter to me? What does this reveal? What can I do with what I’ve learned? When we engage with our lives this way, even difficulty becomes fuel for insight.

You have the power to rewrite the story. Not by changing the facts, but by changing the frame. This doesn’t mean denying reality. It means enriching it. It means finding perspective, depth, and purpose in places others may overlook.

When meaning comes from within, it can’t be taken from you. It isn’t fragile or dependent on others’ approval. It’s rooted in your own experience and reflection.

In the end, meaning doesn’t need to be cosmic to be powerful. It just needs to be real to you. The meaning is the meaning you derive—and that is enough.