marichiko

I have been rereading Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who survived three years in the Nazi death camps. He lost his entire family,including his beloved wife, in the camps. Frankl had one sister who survived. That's it.

In the book, Frankl talks of making two decisions early on in his imprisonment. The first was that he would survive and the second was that he would retain his humanity.

Frankl emerged from the experience with a philosophy of what he calls "tragic optimism" and a desire to be "worthy of his suffering."

That last one has always rocked me back on my heels. How does one become "worthy" of such tremendous suffering as that endured by the prisoners at Auschwitz?

Frankl writes that a person can survive almost anything as long as they have a REASON to do so. He gives examples of a man who struggled on for the sake of his child, safe in a far away country. Another man who fought to survive was a scientist who felt no one could finish the research he'd started except himself. These two men, along with Frankl, had a REASON to will themselves to live despite their terrible suffering and despair.

What would be your REASON to survive if everything you had was taken away? Today I helped a disabled woman get down to to a local food bank to get some groceries. Last night she had dined on a slice of mouldy ham. Tonight she will have tuna and mac and cheese and hamburger patties and canned chili and ravioli. Her smile as we unpacked these items in her kitchen made not only my day worth while, but my entire week. Someone other than me had benefited from my existance.

I'm curious as to what other folks feel gives their lives ultimate meaning?