“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 E. Frankl
One of the most influential people in my life is the famous Austrian psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl. He is the founder of the movement called Logotherapy, and his most famous work, “Man’s Search For Meaning”1, has been chosen by the Harward Business Review as one of 11 books that should be read by the young leaders of the future.2 “Logotherapy” word’s origin comes from the Greek word “logos” and “therapy”. The meaning of the Logos is “meaning”. Logotherapy is focused on the search for the meaning of life and logotherapy applications aim to support people in this regard. Today, I will not talk about the vast field of logotherapy. The subject I want to mention is that every life is worth living, as stressed by V. Frankl.
Many of us have questioned our purpose in life at least once during our lives.”Why did I come to this life?“, “What is my purpose in life?“, “What can I leave to this life?“, “ How can I benefit the universe?” etc. This is a book where you will understand the naturalness of these kinds of questions in your mind and can find answers to these. One of the most effective ideas in the book: Rather than having a fixed and unchanging meaning for all people, it may be more appropriate to believe that it has a meaning that can be different for everyone and can change over time. In this idea, it is emphasized that people cannot find the meaning of life by asking another human being. The meaning of life is incomprehensible until the last minute of life because it contains an integrity. Giving life any early meanings is like give a comment about a movie that hasn’t come to its last frame. This is supported by the idea that meaning of life should be valuable and sustained until the last second of every life.
The famous physician had known that people have a tendency for despair and unhappiness when they are idle. He defined the purpose of writing this book as showing a concrete example to the people and to be able to tell that life in any case, even in the worst cases, has a potential meaning. Dr. Frankl emphasizes the famous quote of Friedrich Nietzsche “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” He stated that he had the chance to observe the trueness of Nietzsche’s statement, in the bad days he spent in the concentration camp and that the people who did not have the purpose of living in the camp chose to give up. Let me give more details for those who don’t know Viktor Frankl: In the Second World War, he fell into concentration camps, including the most famous and fearing concentration camp, Auschwitz, and he survived. During his painful experiences, he lost all of his immediate family except his sister.3 He said that even in the most difficult moments, every life has meaning, and our reaction to what happened to us can increase the chances of living even in the worst moments. He stated that life is meaningful even in the most painful moments, however, it could not be noticed by every human at the same extent.
Dr. Frankl had mentioned three ways to make life meaningful:
1-Producing a work or accomplishing a job
2-Experiencing something or loving a person
3-Developing a positive attitude towards inevitable pain
The author emphasized that the third one of these three ways is not essential for life to be meaningful, besides that, people should know that life contains meaning, even in the inevitable pain.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that this book is the most effective book I’ve ever read. It’s translated into over 30 languages and sold over 15 million copies worldwide. You should read this book over and over again when you feel lost or you forget the meaning of your life. It is one of the treasures of humanity.
References:
- Frankl, V. E. (1945). Man’s Search For Meaning.
- https://hbr.org/2012/10/11-books-every-young-leader-mu#
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl#Physician,_therapist