Hello guys,
I just finished reading Frankl's 'Man's Search For Meaning' yesterday. OMG what an amazing read it was!
The book was interesting and could hardly put it down. That was an amazing read and it really changed my outlook on life.
Life means to take responsibility, to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill its tasks.
Frankl indentify 3 categories of things which giving meaning to our lives and inspire us to to continue through hardship.
1.Working towards your goals.
2. Enduring one sufferings.
3. Caring for another person.
So the meaning in life can be found in those three things.
Dostoevski said once, "There is only one thing I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings." Sufferings is an inherent and integral part of life and we need to find meaning in it. We should stop saying "Why me". We should walk through it with dignity.
You see, let's embrace suffering BUT it only bearable when there is meaning attached to it. Don't suffer for the sake of suffering that will be masochistic rather than heroic.
Each man's life is unique and as such the meaning of life is inevitably different for each individual person.
Here are some quotes which I liked ,
" So live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!"
" Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'""
" In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice."
" I do not forget any good deed done to me & I do not carry a grudge for a bad one."
" To draw an analogy: a man's suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the "size" of human suffering is absolutely relative."
" when someone loves another person, he or she can see the potential of that person and the meaning the person ought to strive to find. By loving someone, one has the opportunity to help that person find his or her purpose in life."
WOW, I cannot recommend it enough for those who haven't read it. I would say this is one of the must read book for everyone.
And BTW "...Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." -- Viktor Frankl, Man's Search For Meaning