A Snippet From One of My Favourite Books

I am constantly in awe of the tenacity and beauty of the human spirit. History and current times show us that there’s always resilience and inspiration, not just in the tales of the rich and famous people, but simply amongst the unsung heroes that live amongst us. 

In the book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Dr Viktor Frankl was assigned to Auschwitz, which became infamous as the most gruesome of the Nazi concentration camps. But as brutal as that experience was for Frankl, it is during this time that he learned more about the quest for meaning and its role in the decisions that we make than he had ever learned during his earlier life.

Frankl survived Auschwitz.

And the reason he survived is that he decided that he would not die in the camps. For Frankl, two driving forces enabled him to see his decision through to its desired outcome:

● The hope that he would see his wife again.

● His desire to continue his lifelong research into logotherapy.

Unfortunately, Frankl’s tale has a bittersweet conclusion. Though he survived, his wife did not. She died in one of the many other concentration camps created throughout Europe during the war. However, Frankl did live to continue his research into logotherapy, and he became one of the world’s most revered psychologists in the process.

Meaning is the secret ingredient, the driving force, that influences every decision that you make in life. Without meaning, your choices have no direction. You have no motivation to follow through and manifest your decision into reality because you can’t see why you should.

So how do you find meaning?

Frankl identifies three sources:

● Purposeful work.

● Courage in the face of intense difficulty.

● Love.