Man’s search for meaning
Life is always a wonderful, mystery gift for everyone, but it is also
very hard and intense with many challenges and difficulties which we have to
cope every day. If you used to read the book Man’s search for meaning of Victor Emil Frankl, you will see how the
real life is. Two months ago, I had a chance to reach out this book, I really
loved this book because it gave me a wonderful experience to know how Nazi
concentration camp is and how to overcome difficulty in this life.
Victor Emil Frankl is not a writer, but psychologist and he wrote this
book with his real experience which he had experienced in Nazi concentration
camp in 1946 after the Second World War. He tried to show to reader a hardest
life without humanity, freedom and hope. There were only torment, tears, blood,
and suffering. The prison, there, had to face with death every day. They had no
right to hold their life, so they did not know when they will die. Moreover,
they did not have enough food to eat, water to drink and bath. They had to work
a lot, but when they were sick, they had no medicine and nobody took care of
them. Therefore, many people lost hope and decided to commit suicide. Although
they had a strong desired to live, to come back home, meaning of life became
strange and unimportance. They only knew to exist with the moment which they
were living. They became more selfish and cruel. There was not humanity, compassion,
love there. They had to kill each other to exist, even to have food or water.
However, which thing helped Frankl overcome and exist in that circumstance?
Because of hope. He did not lose hope, only hope just helped him to cope and fight
with the life in concentration camp. Because of hope, he tried to work hard to
show that he was always strong and brave (if any prison is not able to work,
the jailer will shoot them). Because of hope, he tried to live and find way to
live. Because of hope, he accepted to cope with suffering, injustice and
torment. He always kept in his heart the desire of living because of him and
his family. Yes, he did. After three years in Nazi concentration camp, he was
free. He could not imagine he was still alive and came back home. He cried out:
“After what I experienced, I will not be scare anything, except God in his
heart.”[1]
Look at myself, the book gives me a good opportunity to reflex my life.
Several times, I lost hope and did not see the meaning of life in challenges or
troubles. Sometimes, I got stuck before a useless life and did not want to go
on and cope with it. I know that this life is not always beautiful and
peaceful, but to be mature and strong, I have to live with hard situations and
they are an important part of my life. I really love a famous saying of Nietzsche
in the book: “Whoever has a reason to live, they will overcome any problem life
brings”, but I, sometimes, had no reason to live, to exist and to cope with
challenges and difficulties in my life. I did not know to hope in what: love,
peace, happiness, money, fame or even God because this life is too complicated and
sometimes I didn’t know exactly who I am, why I exist and what my purpose of
living is. However, through this book, I recognize that I am just 25, I have to
cope with more problems which life brings to me. They will not try to kill me,
but they help me to recognize the reality of human in this life. I have no choice
to be born or not, but I have choice to act to exist. I will not know what will
happen to me tomorrow and future, but there is a certain thing which I can know
is no matter I want it or not, difficulty still comes because it is a part of
life and if I overcome it, I will be more stronger.
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