What is the common denominator that connects a wealthy tycoon, a pauper, a movie star, a hobo, an Olympic champion, a clerk, an oligarch, and a shop assistant? On the surface, there isn’t one. Some have nothing and some have it all. One specific client case I counselled, blew that inconclusion out of the sea. I was counselling an international client who had lost $B2.9 in a terrible investment, just before Covid! All she was left with was a mere $M140. She cried like a baby. She felt that she had lost the roof over her head and was out on the street. She didn’t know how she could cope with life, face her erstwhile friends, shop in the same neighbourhood. She felt everyone was avoiding her, pitying her, perhaps even enjoying her descent into poverty. I didn’t doubt her self-perceptions and feelings for one moment. She really did feel like she had lost it all and was now a pauper on borrowed money and borrowed time. Yet if you were to win a lottery of $M140, would you feel like that fallen billionairess? Relativism based on the measuring stick of money. There is indeed a common denominator in that list. It is a quest for life’s meaning. Everyone at some stage of life asks themselves: “what is it all about, Alfie?” Even those who ‘have it’. The script is: I have worked hard. I have a home (maybe two), a spouse (maybe two if I count my ex), a family (maybe two if I count my first one as well). I have investments and a cash flow. I should be happy. But I am not. I need to support two sets of kids – they aren’t prepared to work – they don’t need to. My spouse is focused on clothing and the latest CRV. My employees look at me with envy and hostility. Outside of football is there anything really meaningful in life? What am I here for? If I go (really go!), who will really care? They will all pick out a piece of me in my will and spend it. This is not an unlikely script. I can tell you that the quest for meaning has never been stronger. Reassessment of life; questioning relationships; finding a role as parent of adult children; self-questioning as to what one has really contributed to society (other than money) which earns me lavish but artificial praise. What is truth? What is courage? What is wisdom? How do I find that elusive core that defines the purpose of my few score years and ten? I have cruised to the South Pole and visited the seven wonders of the world. So what? I am going to die anyway, and leave the world with – what? A few groschen and a few paintings? A name on a few buildings. And earth is but a tiny dot in a sea of infinite galaxies. And I am a tiny dot in a sea of 10 billion people inhabiting this tiny dot. A mere dot. How is that meaningful? Let me inform you otherwise. Our ancient tradition teaches that you are indispensable to creation. Without you the Milky Way sea of stars would be empty. You lend immeasurable importance to everyone’s life. Your reflection exists in every drop of water and in every atom. You don’t have to seek meaning. You are creation’s meaning. Now express it. No, not with assets, not with power, not with position, not with sports cars, not with fancy houses, not with jewellery. Your meaning is your soul – your distinctive and unique spiritual umbilical cord that connects you to Oneness and All. Does this make sense? Make you think? Maybe not from a single A4 leaf with a few hundred words. But deep down you know that somewhere in there lies a tradition of wisdom spanning 3500 years – something that provides you with – meaning. So go and find it! There is a wisdom teaching: ‘Yogaito Umotzoso’ ‘If you truly toil in your search, you will definitely find.’ The Torah reading this week begins with a word (Vayikra) which ends with, a smaller than usual, letter Alef. Alef may be the first letter of the alphabet, the foremost leader of spelling, the top general of lexicon. (The Hebrew word for a military general is Aluf!). But to find meaning, the Alef must be small, i.e. reduce your ego, practice egolessness by eating the poor man’s bread (Matza). Ego, self-inflation, insecurity-driven acquisition of wealth – those are false paths that lead to disappointment. The answer lies in meaningfulness. The small Alef is as full of meaning as a pomegranate is full of seeds. Find your “still small voice” within. Find meaning. Laibl Wolf has been a spiritual mentor and a worldwide teacher of spirituality. Get The AJN Newsletter by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up