11/30 2011

Posted in:  Books and articles

I just finished reading “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl.  What a fascinating read and definitely one that I would recommend.  Here are a few things that I took away from the book that caused me to step back and pause about my life. 

• While Freudian psychology focuses on man’s search for pleasure, Adlerian psychology focuses on man’s search for power and prestige, Frankl’s logotherapy focuses on man’s desire for meaning in his life and that it is man’s search for meaning that causes periods of questioning and unrest in people’s lives.  (p. 99)  This thought helped me to question where my purpose is focused and also caused me to reflect on the different stages of my life.  At different times in my life, I derived my purpose from different items of importance.
• “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” (p. 109)  This thought reminded me how important it is to stay aware and to stay in the moment.  How many times have we said something or did something and wished as had an opportunity for a do-over?  So live your life as if this is already the do-over.
• We can discover the meaning of life through doing a deed, experiencing someone or something, or by the attitude we take when we experience suffering.  (p. 111) This is an interesting way of breaking down what causes us to reflect on our lives and derive meaning from this life.  It is unfortunate that most people must endure suffering to experience the greatest moments of learning or truth from life. 
• When man understands the “why” of his existence, he can endure almost any circumstances of “how” his life is playing out.  (p. 80) After reading this book, I stepped back and thought for awhile and asked myself, “Why am I here?” It was a very interesting time of reflection for me to break down the details of why I am on this earth, at this time, in this family, in this job, with these friends and with this church. 

I enjoyed the deep honesty and sincerity with which  Viktor Frankl retold some of the events of the 4 years that he spent in the Auschwitz concentration camp and the meaning that he derived from his life as a result of those experiences.  He recognizes that he is the man that he is today, partly, because of those times.  We are a sum total of the experiences that we have encountered during our lives.  But each one of us has a choice as to how we will react to those experiences.  Who will we be when we come out on the other side of an experience?  What a fascinating thought for the day…

MOMENT OF REFLECTION
Why am I here?  Am I living my life as if this is the do-over that I have been waiting for?

Reference
Frankl, V.E. (2006). Man’s search for meaning. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

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