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Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl Essay

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Life was consumed by constant orders, labor, malnutrition, disease, and murder in the concentration camps. Yet somehow the human psyche in many individuals was able to endure throughout these imprisonments. Men and women were almost completely dehumanized during this genocide, but their psyche survived it. People had to find little things to keep themselves content and to nurture their psyche. “Humor was another of the soul’s weapons in the fight for self-preservation” (63). Humor allows a person to escape a situation and rise above it, even if only for a short time. Humor can never be taken away from anyone because it is naturally within us. Humor within the concentration camps allowed people, for even a split second, to feel like they …show more content…

I interpret the first one as being the best person I can be to others and me, choosing to do just the next right thing. The second one, attitude towards unavoidable suffering, is something I have accepted a long time ago. I do not bother with things I cannot control and try to make the best of every situation. “The last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way” (86). This relates to being an optimist. My attitude is things will always get better down the road of life despite unavoidable suffering. Realizing every person is fighting a great battle in his or her life has changed my worldview. I realize everyone is trying to find meaning and dealing with suffering in one form or another. “It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us” (98). Most people try, in one way or another, to follow this mindset in life. This allows me to be more understanding of why people make decisions and act on them. When anything goes wrong or bad in my life, my family is always there for me. Whenever my family goes through something bad, I am there for him/her. I believe we are in this life together and this belief deepens my sense of meaning. Personal suffering is a

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