There are no guarantees in life, but there are some things we can be pretty sure of: the sun will rise tomorrow, Trump is going to tweet, Valdosta is going to play football. But something could happen. The sun could fall out of the sky, Trump could get a thumb cramp, Valdosta could take up badminton.

Two weeks ago we muscled past the impulse to run out of the room at the sound of the words “meaning of life”, and last week we looked at the attitude required to live a meaningful life—namely, gratitude. This week we will see the action of the meaning of life, the way meaning and purpose changes our lives.

Last week we looked at the reason for this pursuit. To summarize, the meaning of life provides us with the answer to the question of why—why work, why love, why life—and it’s this answer that gives our life meaningful purpose.

If you were to ask three hundred of the wisest people in history about the meaning of life, you’d think they would draw a crowd, but the only way to clear a room faster is by announcing the presence of a life insurance salesman.

Getting caught in the rain on a motorcycle is not a huge problem, but if you don’t have a windshield or a visor, your face is going to be in a world of hurt.

Modern Hebrew speakers use the same word for “hello,” and “goodbye”—but for some Jews, it’s not kosher to use in the restroom because it also is a nickname for God. In the Hebrew Bible, it means peace, prosperity, or well-being.

We all want to be free—after all, America is the “land of the free and the home of the brave”—but freedom often alludes us.

Icons of wealth are everywhere in the media. Everybody who is anybody has a luxury car, mansion, yacht, or clothing line. In this world, nobody advertises the fact that they saved money or bought something economical—with an interesting exception.

The period of life we call “retirement” means different things to different people. It may mean you hang it up and strike out into the sunset with the RV, or, like George Washington, it may mean you go back and run the army.

Our definition of success determines how we use our money and our quality of life. It can be difficult to define, but too often we look to others to define it for us—people we idolize like athletes, singers, or writers. 

There is no clearer picture of greed than in Charles Dickens’ character Ebenezer Scrooge. It’s interesting because even though he obviously values money greatly, his actions show that he has no idea what the value of money really is.

There you are on the front row, the syllabus in front of you. It is short, simple, with the heading at the top reading "Finance 101: An Introduction to Personal Finance."