Driving my daughter to cross-country practice last week, she turned to me and said, “Dad, I feel like if I don’t ace everything in school, I won’t make it into the Air Force Academy.” She’s 15, and her dream is clear. But what struck me wasn’t her ambition, it was the burden she carried.
At the same time, my son dreads school every morning. He says, “Dad, I can learn all of this on my own. Why should I sit through another day that feels pointless?” Two kids, two different frustrations, but both wrestling with the same question: what makes life meaningful?
That same evening, I read the news of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. The shock rippled through our country, not just because a public figure was killed, but because it deepened the sense that America is sliding into despair. Violence, polarization, and declining happiness hang over us like a heavy cloud.
