Option B

by Sheryl Sandberg

After losing a child, parents often have a harder time getting along with relatives and neighbors. After losing a spouse, it’s common for people to argue more with friends and feel insulted by them.

As the saying goes: “In prosperity our friends know us. In adversity we know our friends.”

The fourth form of post-traumatic growth is finding greater meaning in life—a stronger sense of purpose rooted in a belief that one’s existence has significance. In Viktor Frankl’s words, “In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.”

When they measured my stature, they failed to measure my heart.”

Family and religion are the greatest sources of meaning for many people. But work can be another source of purpose. The jobs where people find the most meaning are often ones that serve others. The roles of clergy, nurses, firefighters, addiction counselors, and kindergarten teachers can be stressful, but we rely on these often undercompensated professionals for health and safety, learning and growth. Adam has published five different studies demonstrating that meaningful work buffers against burnout. In companies, nonprofits, government, and the military, he finds that the more people believe their jobs help others, the less emotionally exhausted they feel at work and the less depressed they feel in life. And on days when people think they’ve had a meaningful impact on others at work, they feel more energized at home and more capable of dealing with difficult situations.

Illness is a factor in more than 40 percent of bankruptcies, and there’s evidence that people with cancer are more than 2.5 times more

46 percent of Americans are unable to pay an emergency bill of four hundred dollars. For people living on the edge, paid family leave, quality health care, and mental health coverage can make the difference between hanging on and falling off.

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

People help where they’ve been hurt so that their wounds are not in vain.

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”

I do believe I have been changed for the better. And because I knew you… I have been changed For good.

changed me in profound ways by his presence. And he changed me in profound ways by his absence.

Survivor guilt is a thief of joy—yet another secondary loss from death. When people lose a loved one, they are not just wracked with grief but also with remorse.

A life chasing pleasure without meaning is an aimless existence. Yet a meaningful life without joy is a depressing one.