It's no secret, we live in an age of great uncertainty. If you're a young person you are likely quite afraid of the future. Why shouldn't you be? After all, you're expected to make long term plans if you are to "succeed" and you can't do that if the future is not predictable. Historic paths of upward mobility are being gated off or left to be reclaimed by nature. Many will tell you that you should just work harder. Schmooze with the gatekeeper. Hack away the brush and brave the jungle. Search for traversable paths yet unexplored. The irony of this advice is that it's both true and false. Meaningful and meaningless. It's not your fault the world is uncertain or that the paths are no longer available, but it is your fault if you don't do *something* even if there's nothing to do. Even if you're able to find a path and follow it there may be no end. When you reach the place where people once stopped you're likely to find just another fork in the road. If you're lucky you may be able to rest a while, but only with the knowledge that you will have to get up and keep moving soon.
Great leaders have made it clear throughout history that in times of uncertainty the best strategy is often a simple retreat to higher ground. It's a place where you can protect yourself and rest while you survey the landscape. It might be one of those places you reach at the end of one path while you can still see many others stretching out into the unknown. It may also be far off of any path and secluded deep in the wilderness. It just depends on what feels comfortable to you. If you're weary and anxious, take the time to stop and identify your higher ground. It will take some searching and perhaps some uncomfortable backtracking, but you need this place to protect yourself physically and mentally. Even the most capable trekkers stop for rest and supplies.
After reaching higher ground and resting for a while you'll find yourself either content or discontent. If you're content, then feel free to stay for as long as possible. Form relationships and work together to barricade your position. Be watchful of what is coming though. Remember that times are uncertain and you may need to pack up and move on at any moment. Sometimes you'll choose to travel as a group and that can be comforting on its own. Lifelong settlement may not be possible in these times of great uncertainty. If you're discontent with the higher ground, then you can simply use it as a place to survey the landscape before you ultimately continue on traveling.
If permanent settlement may not be possible and paths often lead nowhere, then why are we still walking? Shouldn't we just give up and accept that we'll never find what it is we were looking for? I realize now that I've been a bit vague regarding the pursuit of meaning with this backpacking metaphor. In life, almost everybody wants the same things. They want a stable settlement from which they can pursue meaning. It seems a bit odd to say it that way, doesn't it? Surely we can imagine plenty of people backpack throughout their lifetime and never find the stable settlement. Is their life devoid of meaning? What of the people who luck out and are born into stability having never known what it's like to hack their way through the jungle. Is their life full of meaning? I suspect that the meaning is much more complex than we often perceive it to be. It comes not only from the presence and appreciation for what we have *now*, but from the struggle we experience on those long walks towards what we want in the future. What makes one person happy or fills their life with meaning may not mean anything to the next. You're the one controlling your body. You choose when to stop and rest. You choose when to keep walking. You choose when to sing and when to stop to appreciate a flower. You make your own meaning. Hold lightly the beliefs that other people have about theirs and yours. They may see a path that you do not, but you do not have to follow it.