Coach Andrew Harrington

I have tackled many tough topics in my monthly advice column, but none have ever or will ever stack up to this. The final boss, the age-old question: What is the meaning of life?

Some say to live like there is no tomorrow, the pursuit of knowledge, finding happiness or even that there is no specific meaning of life. The beauty of the world is that there is no script. There are no exact steps to a perfect life. You control your own destiny. You decide your own meaning of life.

After two decades of searching, I have found that meaning. When I leave this world, I want to both be a positive force in each of my family, friends and coworkers’ lives as well as help them find the best version of themselves.

The first task feels far more attainable. Everyone knows how to share a laugh and can be there for someone when they’re going through a tough time if they put their mind to it. As for helping people find something in themselves that they did not know was there, that is not so easy. It is my personal meaning of life after all, it is not supposed to be a layup. What I do guarantee is that I will put in 100% effort every day over the rest of my life to make it happen.

My meaning of life is going to be different from my neighbors’, my family’s and my friends’, and that is what makes it meaningful. You cannot force meaning into your life.

One place that has helped me feel fulfilled in my mission is the Pierce County Journal. Getting to meet new people in the county on a daily basis has helped me learn new things to apply to my life and has given me an outlet to share that with others. I’m the furthest thing from a sappy guy. I do not tear up during a sad movie. I do not purchase souvenirs when I travel to cool places. I live in the moment. In recent years, that gear has slowly started to turn, making me feel more connected to the community that I have had so much working in and to the world around me.

Taking a detour, there has recently been an extremely viral TikTok video of a penguin leaving its colony to march toward a mountain thousands of miles away. The penguin could never possibly reach that destination, even if it marched for its entire life. There are sad scientific reasons to explain it including the loss of its lifelong partner and the need to get away from the stress. It does serve as a metaphor for the meaning of life, though. A long march to find something, and even if you never arrive at the conclusion, that does not mean the journey did not serve its purpose. Growth begins when we dare to stray from what is comfortable.