Man's Search For Meaning By Viktor E. Frankl
MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING ESSAY What truly motivates a person’s actions and desires in life? Is it seeing a person in need of your assistance? Possibly when you discover selfless love? Or the gratification one receives when they save the life of another being? It can be as complicated/difficult as stopping a person from committing suicide to; as simple as making a person smile on a bad day. While reading the novel Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, I was inspired by how well he dealt with the gruesome situations he was put in and how long he stuck it out with the notion of seeing his family alive in the end. While in the concentration camp Frankl discovered many new aspects of his personality and those of the people around him.
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He also realizes a way to motivate his will to survive and cope with notion of not being able to see his family again. As I read this novel I began to question my own purpose in life. Where do I stand in this world, and what are my motivations in life? Am I a go getter or am I reflected as just a small speck of wasted space in giant mirror of the world? This essay will discover how Frankl coped with being held captive within the concentration camps and his motivations that kept him alive. Furthermore the reasons for my existence and inspirations in life will be touched upon and discussed throughout this essay. Enjoy, and hopefully Frankl’s story will touch other people’s lives other than my own. It all happened at once. Within a couple hours Frankl, his wife (+ unborn child), brother, father, and mother were taken out of the comfort of their own homes and forced to live in the horrific concentration camps of 1942. According to the SS’s and Capos the men whom entered the camp were no longer classified as individual human beings, but as a number. Frankl was stripped of all his personal belongings, as well as his dignity, and was forced to work among other men building trenches. The men were forced to hard labour with little food and poor quality clothing. They were limited to one bowl of soup (all broth) in addition to one piece of bread to last you thorough out the day and wore rags that were never replaced. If a man was sick his food was even more limited. However, if a man was close with the guards and played his cards right with the cook (e.g. Entertaining him while he served them food) he would be rewarded with some peas in his soup or an extra piece of toast.
-talked to his “wife” in hope that she was still alive and waiting for him at the other camp
-turned horrible situations into humorous ones to keep his spirits up
“Motivation is the driving force which causes us to achieve goals.” (www.dictionary.com 2010). Without motivation people will never have the drive to succeed and accomplish their goals in life. While in the concentration camp Frankl suffered through many events that kept bringing him down, however he overcame those obstacles and strived to live despite the horrific accommodations of the camps. Along with dealing with the notion of ever seeing his family again Frankl discovers a desire to help others within the camp and prevent them from committing suicide.
- Helping others from dying
- Hope that his wife+family was still alive
- The will to stay alive despite the horrors within the camp
What keeps a person going in life? When and where do you find your true purpose in life? Why are you even alive? Well, I cannot completely answer all of those questions because I have not yet ended my journey of finding my true self. What I can tell you is that the reason why I am on this earth is because my parents decided that they wanted to start a family and miraculously had me. I was also told that my grandmother was nagging my parents to have her first grandchild because she wanted one oh so very badly. At least that is all what I was told, and do not wish to know any more details. In my opinion I believe that I am living because I truly do not have much regret in my life that is worth ending it. I have a good home, a loving huge loud family, food on the table, a steady part-time job, and the opportunity to receive an education. I feel that those characteristics in my life give me incentives to go on and continue living.
In my daily life I have several roles to take on.
I am a role model, a friend, peer, student, co-worker, comedian, mediator, relative and sometimes a royal pain. If I did not acquire all of these qualities I would not be the person I am today and I would not be living the fulfilled pleasing life that I am presently living. There are several aspects throughout my life that keep me going on such as; the gratitude I obtain when I help a friend or family member get through a tough situation. Also when I finish a difficult job on my own and I receive praise, or are told how grateful someone is to have me in their life. These all give me the will to continue on living life and help me to discover my true purpose. However not all of my days are quite as rewarding and some days can be more difficult than others. There is always going to be thorns within a bed of roses; those thorns can bring on feelings of depression, and anger leading to low self-esteem. Sometimes these hardships in life may give me the feelings of not want to go on; then I take my positive side of life and reassure myself that there is always tomorrow and things can always be resolved. With this in mind I am able to collect my feelings and thoughts and make it through all those rough moments. For instance when Frankl was in the concentration camps there must have been times when he just wanted to give up and end his life, but he stayed strong and stuck it out until the end. If I believed that I did not have any purpose in life I know that I would not try to accomplish anything or even bother trying to associate with others. When I put all my strength and motivation together it gives me the will keep going and thrive for my very best in anything that I do. -how many gay men, lezbian women never come out because they dont want to be disgraced by others. people are afraid to be themselves becuase of society-hypicritical and judgemental-Sometimes it happeneds later in life and to find their true calling.
Life is finding yourself in others, inspirations. -Sometimes people need to find the answer in life and need to set off to truly find themselves Ex. Doctor didn’t really want to become a doctor he did because his parents told him to.
If a person does not have any motivation in life they will never live happily and fulfilled. Viktor E. Frankl’s horrible experiences in the camp did not stop him from helping out the other prisoners and keep them sane. His purpose in life was to help others, whether it was physically or psychologically. He knew from the first day he set foot into the camp that he would not become weak and would not “run into the wire” (most common form of suicide on the camp) and that he would probably never see his wife(plus his unborn child) and family again; however this never ceased him from hoping for their survival. When a person has hope it gives them the strength and motivation to withstand any harm that comes their way. My purpose in life is somewhat like Frankl’s; I live to help others even if that means sacrificing something to accommodate others. When I help a friend, family member or person in need the notion that I had helped them solve their issue is fairly gratifying. I live to serve God and to
He also realizes a way to motivate his will to survive and cope with notion of not being able to see his family again. As I read this novel I began to question my own purpose in life. Where do I stand in this world, and what are my motivations in life? Am I a go getter or am I reflected as just a small speck of wasted space in giant mirror of the world? This essay will discover how Frankl coped with being held captive within the concentration camps and his motivations that kept him alive. Furthermore the reasons for my existence and inspirations in life will be touched upon and discussed throughout this essay. Enjoy, and hopefully Frankl’s story will touch other people’s lives other than my own. It all happened at once. Within a couple hours Frankl, his wife (+ unborn child), brother, father, and mother were taken out of the comfort of their own homes and forced to live in the horrific concentration camps of 1942. According to the SS’s and Capos the men whom entered the camp were no longer classified as individual human beings, but as a number. Frankl was stripped of all his personal belongings, as well as his dignity, and was forced to work among other men building trenches. The men were forced to hard labour with little food and poor quality clothing. They were limited to one bowl of soup (all broth) in addition to one piece of bread to last you thorough out the day and wore rags that were never replaced. If a man was sick his food was even more limited. However, if a man was close with the guards and played his cards right with the cook (e.g. Entertaining him while he served them food) he would be rewarded with some peas in his soup or an extra piece of toast.
-talked to his “wife” in hope that she was still alive and waiting for him at the other camp
-turned horrible situations into humorous ones to keep his spirits up
“Motivation is the driving force which causes us to achieve goals.” (www.dictionary.com 2010). Without motivation people will never have the drive to succeed and accomplish their goals in life. While in the concentration camp Frankl suffered through many events that kept bringing him down, however he overcame those obstacles and strived to live despite the horrific accommodations of the camps. Along with dealing with the notion of ever seeing his family again Frankl discovers a desire to help others within the camp and prevent them from committing suicide.
- Helping others from dying
- Hope that his wife+family was still alive
- The will to stay alive despite the horrors within the camp
What keeps a person going in life? When and where do you find your true purpose in life? Why are you even alive? Well, I cannot completely answer all of those questions because I have not yet ended my journey of finding my true self. What I can tell you is that the reason why I am on this earth is because my parents decided that they wanted to start a family and miraculously had me. I was also told that my grandmother was nagging my parents to have her first grandchild because she wanted one oh so very badly. At least that is all what I was told, and do not wish to know any more details. In my opinion I believe that I am living because I truly do not have much regret in my life that is worth ending it. I have a good home, a loving huge loud family, food on the table, a steady part-time job, and the opportunity to receive an education. I feel that those characteristics in my life give me incentives to go on and continue living.
In my daily life I have several roles to take on.
I am a role model, a friend, peer, student, co-worker, comedian, mediator, relative and sometimes a royal pain. If I did not acquire all of these qualities I would not be the person I am today and I would not be living the fulfilled pleasing life that I am presently living. There are several aspects throughout my life that keep me going on such as; the gratitude I obtain when I help a friend or family member get through a tough situation. Also when I finish a difficult job on my own and I receive praise, or are told how grateful someone is to have me in their life. These all give me the will to continue on living life and help me to discover my true purpose. However not all of my days are quite as rewarding and some days can be more difficult than others. There is always going to be thorns within a bed of roses; those thorns can bring on feelings of depression, and anger leading to low self-esteem. Sometimes these hardships in life may give me the feelings of not want to go on; then I take my positive side of life and reassure myself that there is always tomorrow and things can always be resolved. With this in mind I am able to collect my feelings and thoughts and make it through all those rough moments. For instance when Frankl was in the concentration camps there must have been times when he just wanted to give up and end his life, but he stayed strong and stuck it out until the end. If I believed that I did not have any purpose in life I know that I would not try to accomplish anything or even bother trying to associate with others. When I put all my strength and motivation together it gives me the will keep going and thrive for my very best in anything that I do. -how many gay men, lezbian women never come out because they dont want to be disgraced by others. people are afraid to be themselves becuase of society-hypicritical and judgemental-Sometimes it happeneds later in life and to find their true calling.
Life is finding yourself in others, inspirations. -Sometimes people need to find the answer in life and need to set off to truly find themselves Ex. Doctor didn’t really want to become a doctor he did because his parents told him to.
If a person does not have any motivation in life they will never live happily and fulfilled. Viktor E. Frankl’s horrible experiences in the camp did not stop him from helping out the other prisoners and keep them sane. His purpose in life was to help others, whether it was physically or psychologically. He knew from the first day he set foot into the camp that he would not become weak and would not “run into the wire” (most common form of suicide on the camp) and that he would probably never see his wife(plus his unborn child) and family again; however this never ceased him from hoping for their survival. When a person has hope it gives them the strength and motivation to withstand any harm that comes their way. My purpose in life is somewhat like Frankl’s; I live to help others even if that means sacrificing something to accommodate others. When I help a friend, family member or person in need the notion that I had helped them solve their issue is fairly gratifying. I live to serve God and to