Changing your perspective on life — Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

When a valuable piece of insight comes into our lives that helps to improve it in any way, we want to share our knowledge with others so that they too can benefit.

In books, I have never failed to glean some tidbit of information that sparks an idea or connection to my own life. Whether it be fiction, self-help, or biographies, there is always something that can be internalized.

However, the best books are those that expand your mind, help you reevaluate your life and put into perspective the decisions you are making and the way you interact with the world around you. For any person who is looking to live a fuller, more meaningful life, Man’s Search for Meaning has become one of those life-changing works that has helped me live more in the moment, and to find a deeper meaning in the everyday actions I pursue.

Background of Man’s Search for Meaning

The memoir details author Viktor Frankl’s three years living as a prisoner in concentration camps during the Holocaust. It is haunting in every way imaginable, and reminds me of all the atrocities committed in the past and the harsh realities of our present. It is disconcerting to know that there are people in the world who are still suffering in similar ways.

But the author focuses beyond his suffering and looks objectively at how him, and other Holocaust survivors, were able to find a purpose and meaning to their suffering.

“In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice” (175)

For Viktor, meaning to his life came in the form of self-transcendence. Self-transcendence exists in two ways:

(1) Love for someone who is not yourself and

(2) Creating a piece of work.

There is meaning to our lives when we give ourselves to something or someone that is not ourselves. For Viktor, it was his wife and his desire to finish his life’s work (a book) that became is foundational why for living.

“The more one forgets himself — by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love — the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself” (172)

At the concentration camps, where human-life is devalued to such an extent and everybody is fighting for survival, it seems only common sense that all conviviality or considerateness would disappear. However, there were still people who despite all that they were going through would find it within themselves to lend a helping hand to those around them. A gesture like this was costly — it often meant life or death.

This brings me to one of Viktor’s most important points, and that is the ability to control our actions regardless of external factors. And that is what makes us human even when everything human about us is stripped from us. Our capacity for love towards others and how we react is always within our grasp, and it is the conscious choices we make when reacting to situations that truly defines who we are.

Thoughts

When I first read Viktor’s passage on the control we have over our decisions during times of hardships, I was overcome with a sense of relief and empowerment. Being trapped in the negative confines of my mind has been something I have always struggled with — but how reassuring was it to know that I could control all these negative thoughts and emotions and give meaning to the parts of my life I deemed important! It seems obvious, but reading this from the point of view of Viktor’s life and his experiences as a Holocaust survivor put everything I was experiencing in my life into perspective.

After reading this book, there are questions that I need to ask myself every day to remind me of what is important, and to help filter out all the noise that seeps into my life:

What I the meaning behind the feelings I am currently experiencing?

Looking back as an 80 year-old, was all that I was doing worth it?

What can I do to help improve the world around me and to mitigate others’ suffering?

I am reminded everyday how lucky I am to be able to even ask myself these questions, and it is not something that I take for granted.

There are a lot of nuances in the book that I was not able to cover in this article, including the author’s introduction to interesting psychological concepts such as logo therapy (invented by Viktor himself) and anticipatory anxiety. I highly recommend reading the book for yourself and to uncover your own meaning from it. Perhaps it will be different from mine, and I would love to hear your thoughts.