'Man's search for Meaning' A reflection

Hi everyone, a while ago @GlenM recommended a book called ‘Mans Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. It is a book written by a psychiatrist who experienced great struggles in his life, I will avoid the details of the struggles to avoid triggering anyone. If you are interested in the background of the author then please read more here.

I finally got around to reading it last week and Glen encouraged me to share the findings and summary of the book with the community so in this post I will try to explain the main takeaways of the book and how it may be applied to our community in some contexts. It is okay if you personally disagree with some of the claims of the book but nevertheless, it makes some interesting points and I find it worth reading. If you are interested, you can find the book here.

Key takeaways from the book

1) To live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering

When we look at life whether it is ours or someone else's, we find a lot of suffering so it can be argued that there exists no life without a certain level of suffering. So it is unreasonable to try and avoid all possible suffering and instead the goal is to find meaning in our suffering. However, this purpose can not be found by simply asking someone else. You have to look at your own life and find the purpose in your own suffering. An example of this can be school, some people truly believe that a school is a form of suffering for them yet they manage to do well because they find meaning in the suffering and know that they go to school for a reason and that it is not pointless.

2) One who knows ‘Why' can bear any ‘how'

It's a powerful statement to make, but isn't that how life goes? If you have a firm ‘why' you can bear any ‘how'. Let's look at the community, we are a community of people who are striving to support those in need of a listening ear. In this scenario, our ‘Why' is that we are here to provide support but our ‘How' differs and changes. So you see people who are incredibly busy in their lives, are studying and have a job yet they find the ‘how' and continue to dedicate their time and efforts because they have a firm ‘why'. They believe in the mission and are open to any ‘how'.

3) The Meaning of Life

I will quote the book here as the author answers this question in a way that no summary can do it justice ‘The meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment. To put the question in general terms would be comparable to the question posed to a chess champion: "Tell me, Master, what is the best move in the world?" There simply is no such thing as the best or even a good move apart from a particular situation in a game and the particular personality of one's opponent. The same holds for human existence. One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone's task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it.

It does make you think what is the meaning of life at this very moment? And that somehow makes the question much less daunting. You don't have to figure your whole life, you just have to focus on the present moment.

4) Man should not ask what the meaning of his life is

I know it's confusing to hear this right after the above statement but bear with me! The book states ‘As each situation in life represents a challenge to man and presents a problem for him to solve, the question of the meaning of life may actually be reversed. Ultimately, a man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to the life, he can only respond by being responsible.

This observation in particular is more difficult to understand and understandably so but at the same time, it helps you focus on the now and leaves you in the mindset of wanting to be more responsible and viewing life expectations in a new light. If we apply this to 7 Cups, at times we focus on the bigger questions like ‘What is the ideal 7 Cups' and maybe while asking that question, we can also ask ourselves, what can we do to in this very moment, in this present to make the platform get closer to its ideal self? Instead of focusing on what the site could improve on, maybe we can focus on what we can do to improve the area we are passionate about. Just a thought!

5) You have the freedom to choose your attitude

The book states ‘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. Life is filled with challenges and at times less than ideal situations and it can be so easy to complain about the situation and focus on all the negatives but the real courage is in acknowledging that you have the freedom to choose your attitude towards the situation and once we realize that, it all seems somehow more manageable.

6) Success & Happiness can not be pursued as the main target

The book insists that the more you aim to be successful and the more you pursue happiness, the more unlikely it is for you to achieve it. Sounds like a bold claim at first so let me also quote the exact lines ‘"Don't aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run—in the long run, I say! —success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it."

This statement may be controversial to some but I agree with it, to me this means that you can't reach for shortcuts but you have to put in the work. You have to find something greater than yourself that you can dedicate your efforts to. You need to live a certain way and success and happiness find you even if you are not looking for it.

7) Live as if you were living already for the second time

Think about it, with practice we get better at things and we start to realize what truly matters. The book says ‘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!" when we look at life as we were living it for the second time, somehow the priorities become clearer. You feel more motivated to pursue your dreams, give more time to your loved ones, and the desire to chase after materialistic success seems to matter less.

There are more lessons in the book so I recommend reading it yourself. It can be easy to think about all the negativity in the world and lose your way in life but I believe this book helps you feel more grounded and allows you to see the world with a fresh perspective.

What do you think about the teachings of this book? Would you like to read this book?