How to Have a Meaningful Life
Why your second mountain is the answer
You played by the rules. Kept your head down, went to school, and embarked on a promising career. While others got distracted, you embraced a strong work ethic.
Promotions followed. You and your spouse moved out of that tiny apartment and bought a house. Kids came along, and the rhythms of life changed, but you remained disciplined.
You stuck to a lean diet, exercised regularly, got up early, and made your bed every morning. There were amazing vacations, nice cars, and sound investments for your retirement.
According to the author David Brooks, you’ve made it to the top of your first mountain. The goals that you achieved are the ones American culture endorses: to reach financial success, make your mark, and live happily ever after.
But there’s a problem. You feel all knotted up inside. Unsettled. As the dust jacket on David Brooks’s book The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life states:
“But when they get to the top of that mountain, something happens. They look around and find the view…unsatisfying. They realize: This wasn’t my mountain after all. There’s another, bigger mountain…
