In his book, he set forth his conclusion that the main difference between those who lived and those who died in the concentration camps was meaning. He maintained that the last remaining human freedom is to choose one's attitude. To figure out a why" is to enable one to cope with almost any situation. Indeed research has shown that purpose and meaning enhances physical and mental health.
It is better to value meaning over the happiness that our culture places first. A happy life and a meaningful life can overlap but are different. Happiness is feeling good because one has gotten what one wants. Meaning comes from giving to others. In addition, happiness is experienced in the present and is fleeting. Meaning is enduring and connects past, present, and future. To serve someone or something larger than ourselves is to recognize that there is more to the good life than the pursuit of happiness.
I recently came across a 2013 article in the magazine The Week called What is a good life? I think it is worth sharing. It focuses on Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning (1946). Before World War II, he had been a prominent psychiatrist and neurologist in Vienna. In 1942, he was taken to a Nazi concentration camp with his wife and parents. Before his arrest, he had obtained a visa to the United States but chose to stay in Austria with his family. When his camp was liberated, most of his family had died, but he had lived.