Approximate reading time: 7 minutes
What you will learn
- How to choose a book according to the question you are asking about meaning.
- What each of three books available from Ejabi Plus offers, including the language of the linked edition.
- How to connect personal reflection, psychological knowledge, and everyday choices without making life another productivity project.
Introduction
A day can be full of responsibilities and still leave little room for what matters most. We finish what others expect, postpone a conversation or an interest we miss, and wonder whether this is the life we want. Such questions arise during crises, but also after success, during transitions, or on an ordinary evening when our priorities feel distant from our routines. A useful book does not decide the answer for us. It can help us ask a clearer question and notice possibilities we had overlooked.
The three books selected here are available from Ejabi Plus and offer different entry points: personal growth and relationships, positive psychology, and how we use our time. They are not all specialist books on meaning, and this is not a scientific ranking of the best books. Their value lies in the different perspectives they bring to a reader's present concern. Two linked editions are in Arabic and one is in English. Choosing according to language, interests, and reading goals matters more than following a supposedly universal order.
Before choosing a book: what do we mean by meaning?
Researchers Frank Martela and Michael Steger distinguish three facets of meaning in life: coherence, purpose, and significance. These concern whether life makes sense, has direction, and feels worthwhile. Someone may know what they want to accomplish but lack belonging; another may value their relationships while needing a new direction after circumstances change. The same book may not suit both readers equally. This distinction helps us identify the question behind the general wish for a more meaningful life.
Meaning is also different from constant pleasure. Caring for someone you love can feel deeply worthwhile and exhausting, while an enjoyable activity can provide necessary relief without becoming a life mission. Every hour does not need to produce an achievement or serve a larger purpose. It is also useful to distinguish experiencing meaning from actively searching for it. Searching can encourage reflection, but can become burdensome if we insist on a final answer before allowing ourselves to live.
1. How to Become Human? — starting with yourself and your relationships
كيف تصبح إنسانًا؟ (How to Become Human?) is available in Arabic and introduces personal development, character, and relationships. Its connection with meaning lies in considering the kind of person we want to be and how this takes shape in everyday interactions. We recommend it as a companion to that reflection. It is not presented here as a specialist account of how meaning is measured or as a book offering a single answer about life's purpose.
It may suit readers asking how they want to treat others, which qualities they value, and whether daily choices reflect those values. These are prompts we suggest for accompanying the reading, rather than exercises quoted from the book. They bring a broad idea such as self-development closer to observable situations: listening carefully, making a clear apology, or keeping a commitment. The point is to find one useful connection with your own life. You do not need to turn every page into another requirement for improvement.
Nor should the title suggest that your humanity is incomplete until you finish a program of personal growth. Your value does not depend on continuous progress or ideal performance in relationships. You can learn while acknowledging fatigue, limitations, and mistakes. After reading, consider which idea helped you understand a situation more clearly and what you might try next. That question leaves more room for curiosity than an assessment of whether you are now a better person.
2. The Basics of Positive Psychology — a wider understanding of well-being
أساسيات علم النفس الإيجابي by Rona Hart offers an introduction to positive psychology and is available in Arabic. Its themes include positive emotions, strengths, relationships, meaning, and purpose. This breadth places meaning within a wider picture of psychological life rather than separating it from connection and context. It may suit someone seeking an organized introduction to the concepts behind discussions of well-being. Its purpose differs from a purely personal or philosophical reflection.
Positive psychology does not require constant happiness or reduce difficulties to insufficient optimism. We can study what supports well-being while taking grief, illness, injustice, and material hardship seriously. A grounding in the field can help readers distinguish a research-informed idea from an expansive marketing promise. It also leaves room to ask about the limits of a finding and the circumstances in which an intervention was studied. A scientific framework does not imply that every practice works equally well for everyone.
To accompany the reading, choose one concept and notice how it appears in your life without turning it into a new obligation. Reading about relationships might prompt reflection on where you find mutual support and where you need boundaries or shared time. Reading about strengths may invite you to consider how to use a quality appropriately rather than as intensely as possible. Knowledge then becomes a way to understand circumstances. It does not need to become a checklist against which you measure your worth.
3. Happier Hour — making time for what matters
Happier Hour by Cassie Holmes focuses on our relationship with time and how we allocate it to experiences and people we value. The linked edition is in English. This is not a specialist book on meaning-centered therapy, but it addresses a practical question: what happens when priorities become actual days and weeks? It may suit a reader who knows that friendship, reading, or rest matters, yet finds those things continually displaced. Its relevance here concerns the relationship between values and everyday choices.
You might read it while considering the difference between a full day and a day that included something personally worthwhile. Changing a schedule cannot by itself solve inflexible employment, caregiving demands, or inadequate resources. Sometimes the available adjustment is modest: a short conversation with a friend, protected rest, or negotiating one commitment. The starting point is the life you actually have. An ideal balance in every area is not a prerequisite for making one useful change.
A simple companion reflection is to notice which activities leave you feeling connected or satisfied and which consume time without much deliberate choice. This is not a way to divide every minute into useful or wasted time. Rest and spontaneous enjoyment deserve space too. The aim is to distinguish what you choose from what happens automatically and experiment with one adjustment. You may discover that you need less pressure around an existing activity rather than another activity to add.
Which book should you start with?
Choose How to Become Human? if your immediate interest is personal reflection and how you show up in relationships. Start with The Basics of Positive Psychology if you want a broader conceptual grounding for reading about meaning and well-being. If the pressing question is how to give your priorities space in a busy day, Happier Hour may be the better starting point, provided reading in English suits you. You do not need to buy all three or follow a fixed sequence. One book that addresses a real question can be more useful than a growing stack of recommendations.
Moving from a useful idea to everyday life
After reading, identify one idea worth trying. You might give attention to a relationship, return to an activity connected with a personal value, or review a commitment that no longer fits. Keep the experiment small enough for your circumstances and later ask whether it supported clarity, connection, or a sense of significance. This is a suggested way of engaging with reading, not a promise that one exercise will change your life. You are allowed to adapt an idea or decide that it is not helpful for you.
Questions about meaning can also accompany deep grief, loss, or persistent exhaustion. Books may offer companionship, but they do not replace supportive relationships or professional help when needed. You are not required to find a benefit in pain or turn every difficult experience into a lesson. Sometimes a more useful beginning is caring for yourself or sharing what you are going through. Making room for something important can start before you have an answer about life as a whole.
For further reading, explore Meaning in Life: Recognizing What Deserves Your Time and Care and Five Ways to Make Room for What Matters.
