ATTITUDE IS THE DETERMINING FACTOR IN THE MEANING OF LIFE
I just finished a wonderful book by Viktor Frankl, "Man's Search for Meaning"
I was told that the only part of the book that might be of interest to me was the first part. But, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire book. The second part did require the use of a dictionary on occasion.
Dr. Frankl was an Austrian Psychiatrist who was incarcerated during WWII in several concentration and extermination camps in Europe. Twenty-five out of twenty-six prisoners did not survive those camps. Before his incarceration he had developed a psychotherapy known as Logotherapy which dealt with more logic than many earlier forms of psychotherapy. (Keep in mind that my descriptions are of an uneducated student and layman.)
The book is an eye opener and I recommend that people who search for truth and meaning in their lives give it a read.
A few things that I learned from reading this book:
My own theory that attitude is one of the most important aspect of living a life of meaning was confirmed by this book.
If a person has a WHY they will be able to determine the HOW. If there is no WHY in their life they are left with a void and an emptiness. Life without a WHY is a miserable existence. (This might explain why unemployed people on the dole are so unhappy.)
Below is an excerpts from the afterward by William J Winslade. In this excerpt he is quoting a Norwegian professor of philosophy who had been incarcerated in a Nazi concentration camp. He writes;
"My colleague remarked how strongly he agreed with Frankl about the importance of nourishing one's inner freedom, embracing the value of beauty in nature, art, poetry, and literature, and feeling love for family and friends. But other personal choices, activities, relationships, hobbies, and even simple pleasures can also give meaning to life. Why then, do some people find themselves feeling so empty? Frankl's wisdom here is worth emphasizing: it is a question of the ATTITUDE one takes toward life's challenges and opportunities, both large and small. A positive attitude enables a person to endure suffering and disappointment as well as enhances enjoyment and satisfaction. A negative attitude intensifies pain and deepens disappointments; it undermines and diminishes pleasure, happiness, and satisfaction; it may even lead to depression or physical illness."
All of this brings to mind the popular song of the 60ties: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones. Perhaps a better title for this song would have been " My Attitude is Crummy and I'm so DISSATISFIED. But, then what do I know I'm just an old retired Aviator.
~Adverse Yaw
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