When you are left with nothing but yourself sometimes the
resolution becomes clear as an end. But what can you do in face of repeated
adversity and conditions no man/woman should ever feel? Viktor Frankl’s answer to this question
emerges from personal suffering and having to put up with conditions that
threatened his existence. The answer he gives is that one must find a meaning
in everything he/she does, even in pain, in simple pleasures and in trial that
every life contains.
To be able to create a meaning out of pain is truly an
exercise I can only compare to those made by Buddhist monks, because I imagine
that only after meditation or intense thought one can accomplish that the
essence of all things lies in the purpose that our actions pertain.
The horrors of being in concentration camps in Auschwitz,
Dachau and others and afterwards finding out that those people that made you
find a purpose for the pains endured are dead can be hard to live with. And wet
his theory of finding a purpose for all there is to life, to ones life, give
him strength to carry on living, to find people, things and action that can
fulfill the need for meaning, a personal purpose to an individual life.
The book was really inspiring and made me think and realize
the meaning behind my actions, and the purpose of chosen paths in life. It made
me more aware and more responsible and yet it made me free. I strive to find
the purpose of my life, the meaning of my actions and to endure with courage
and optimism all that lies ahead in the great unknown of my life.
I also started reading about logotherapy and found it very
useful in my work.
