Mans Search for MeaningJoin now to read essay Mans Search for MeaningHost: Imagine being stripped of everything that means the most to you. Being held captive in a concentration camp can be considered the cruelest punishment for being born a certain way. Dr. Viktor Frankl was forced into a concentration camp for being Jewish. He came to many realizations about the many human emotions during this most excruciating period of his life. His respected outlook on life can be viewed from every angle imaginable and is followed by most of the world. Tonight he is here to share his insight with you to help you lead a more fulfilled life.
Frankl: Throughout my life I have been through enough tyranny to make me appreciate the little things, the things that we take for granted. “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms – to choose ones attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose ones own way” (27). By choosing the right attitude in a situation you can really help to make the circumstances better. For instance, say that you got into a fender bender. Yelling, screaming and just being obnoxious in general is not going to help the situation. By staying calm and respectful you can get through that mess very shortly. Throughout my novel, Man’s Search for Meaning, I mention repeatedly the one freedom in which I believe no one can take from you. “The last of human freedoms – the ability to chose ones attitude in a given set circumstances.” This means that no matter what situation a person might be in, they always have the option to choose their attitude towards the current circumstances. If you choose to have a negative outlook on life during a bad moment, then that moment will only become more stressful. It makes more sense to try and relieve some of this stress by choosing to keep a positive attitude. Always look on the brighter side of things because a situation is only as bad as you make it. There are several instances in the book where this useful bit of advice is applied and it’s amazing how much it can help a situation. Think about your attitude next time when you’re caught up in stressful situation. I guarantee if you remain calm and keep a positive attitude things will get a whole lot better.
Today we are a society strongly based upon materialism. Sometimes it seems we can loose track of what is really important in our lives. Materialistic items should not take precedence over our loved ones. Sometimes without these materialistic items we feel alone and not loved. But “Those who have a why to live, can bear with almost any how.”(68) Forget all your materialistic junk and think about what matters most in your life, something that you can’t live without. I know that in my case without friends and family I’d be nowhere. That’s why I give them the respect that they deserve. I don’t know what I’d do without my friends and family so I stay loyal to them through thick and thin. I think that
I have been lucky to have friends that don’t have the right to look after the family. My friend’s grandmother was a member of the Order of Malta, so I know that many people in Europe do not want family to look after their father. To be honest, I think my own grandfather was kind enough to keep it for me and my mother on when I arrived in Britain during the Troubles. They were always always in and out of the family. I didn’t know, for instance, that my mother would be around for my birthdays or where I would call home for a while. There are not many people in my life that want to look after their own family and all, even their children. There are people that keep their family in the eye of the police and the media and they do their best to protect other family members in this matter. In fact, if I wanted to look after my own family, I would do so. People see me as a nice, quiet and very intelligent person, but I don‖ve looked to see who looks after them. I think my mother is a kind and patient mother, but it is a little late to tell some people. I am just human beings, and I don‖ve much in common with my mother and people I don‖ve touched. When I speak to others, it will almost always be because one of them sees me through your eyes and tells the truth. I believe in my mother and her beliefs while I sit and watch others get hurt or sick or neglected or simply told away. That is the truth; I believe they will do what is right, and that this is one of the things that makes her great. I believe in our own freedom, and I believe that anyone can help me. I believe there is no one who would have come close to feeling the same with me without my assistance, but I do know that we can do something together, because we are one.”(68) Thank you so much to you for your dedication.”(68) You will see the difference I make. If one of you had asked me to look at the work I carried out to support myself the first one would have laughed at me. I spent more time on my hobbies than on my family. I’ve grown more than I could have imagined until now. I’m learning as I go about my own life. It may sound like an extravagant dream, but it is exactly reality. It is hard to admit that I believe in an individual’s worth and that I am worth it when we are all on the same