'Frankl – the Meaning of Life Essay\r'

'Frankl does non use the word â€Å" import” in the general broad sense such(prenominal) as in â€Å"What is the signifi hoboce of breeding? ” just quite in a much specific counselling of â€Å"what is the heart and soul of your liveness”. In Frankl’s words, communicate the convey of life is akin to request the chess champion: â€Å"Tell me, Master, what is the outperform move in the creative activity? ” (pg 131) thither is no â€Å"correct” answer to this heading, as the best move is dependent on your opp whizznt, the moves already made, and the moves to be made…. some(prenominal) the same as uttering thither is no correct answer to the question â€Å"What is the meaning of life?\r\n” as the meaning of life permutes from person to person and from mo ment to moment. Frankl demonstrates how his meaning of life tiltd as remark that angiotensin converting enzyme morning as he marched to work he came to a chop py realization that â€Å"The salvation of composition is finished hunch and in love. ” (pg 57) I hypothesize that Frankl’s realization is meant to illustrate how notwithstanding in the darkest of times, meaning stub be found in scathe and that â€Å"… every occasion puke be homecomingn from a human being but one thing: the finish of the human freedoms-to elect one’s attitude in both overtaken(p) set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.\r\n” (pg 86) Frankl chose to focus on his love †his love for his wife, his love for life which brought meaning to the torture he was enduring. Frankl does not talk what he desires the meaning of life is, but instead tries to uphold us to master the fairness for ourselves through his illustrations of human suffering and triumph. The analogy of the Painter vs. the Ophthalmologist on page 132 studys Frankl’s core discip term. â€Å"A painter tries to convey to us a picture of the homo as he gets it; and ophthalmologist tries to en commensurate us to see the world as it really is.\r\n” Frankl tries to c ar us to see with our own look; he cannot show us the truth but can only fork up and help us discover it for ourselves. In Frankl’s own case, he was able to find his purpose which was to document what he had learned roughly mankind magical spell suffering in a tautness camp. He did so as to help others understand their responsibility in formation their life; and how by world responsible, we can define life’s meaning every day. Frankl illustrates man taking responsibility for his own life in his figure of fellow inmates.\r\nâ€Å"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts console others, giving away their last found of bread. They may cod been few in number, but they offer sufficient produce that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms †to choose one’s attitude in any bumpn set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. ” (pg 86)These men chose to give meaning to their life by astir(p) the lives of those around them, even in the impertinence of certain death if discovered.\r\nThey chose even slice surrounded by unimaginable repulsive force to place the wellbeing of their fellow inmates supra their own. Frankl defines this behavior as â€Å"The self-transcendence of human globe”. (pg 133) It means that being human is to the highest degree exhalation beyond you own self needs. He says â€Å"The more one forgets himself †by giving himself to a cause to serve, or another person to love †the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself. â€Å"(pg 133) His illustrations of the inmates who gave the last of their bread or time-tested to comfort those around him are certainly examples of self-transcendence.\r\nI can relate to this line of thinking as I reflect o n those people in my life I some respect; they are those friends and family whom I consider selfless †singles who give of themselves. This philosophy can even be translated to business. The most successful business men I know are individual who learned at an early story that giving of themselves, through writing, speaking, or being involved in their community finally reaped the greatest rewards, closed the most business, etc… piece of music these individual have an agenda (vs.\r\nbeing truly selfless), I still believe they are practicing self-transcendence. They are, as Frankl states, discovering that â€Å"The true meaning of life is to be discovered in the world rather than within man or his own psyche, as though it were a closed body. ” (pg 133) They choose to act with the people and the world around them rather than retreat into themselves. Frankl compares a closed corpse to an open system as a way of explaining how human interaction leads to self-trans cendence, succession self-actualization is a false way of finding meaning.\r\nA closed system cannot change or grow; it by description must maintain equilibrium. An open system on the other hand exists such that we interact with each other and the removed world. Through our interactions with one another, growth is bear upon within ourselves and those around us. In a closed system we would retreat from the world and isolate ourselves. While doing this might charter a certain amount of inward peace, it does not stimulate growth. We cannot improve ourselves and the world around us in this way because it is too self-serving.\r\nThat’s not to say that self reflection is a crappy thing, but rather that self-reflection loses its meaning unless you have something to reflect against †another philosophy, the meaning of an feature in your life, etc… Self-reflection for the sake of self-reflection would produce no personal growth in Frankl’s view. In conclusion , I think that Frankl’s life experiences helped shape someone who at his core was a realist. You cannot always change the situation, so if you want a contrastive outcome, you must change your reaction.\r\nSometimes dreadful things happen to a person; that is life. How you choose to respond to the circumstances surrounding you is your most basic privilege as an skilful human being. I love the occurrence that Frankl offers no real answers, just a framework for figuring it out for yourself. I hope to learn more about Frankl and try to apply more of his â€Å"take responsibility” attitude to my everyday life. I have already started by going back to school to finish my degree.\r\n'