Struggle Strong!

The last of human freedoms – the ability to choose one’s attitude in a given set of circumstances. Victor Frankl (1905-1997), Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, founder of logotherapy, a psychotherapeutic method of finding meaning in all forms of existence.

Imagine for a minute you were suddenly snatched away from your world of comfort…your house, your friends, your family and even your country. Then you were stripped of all your personal belongings right down to the gold and silver fillings that protected your teeth. Now naked and debased, you are subjected to inhumane conditions of existence, tossed in a bunkhouse overflowing with decrepit human specimens who have become mere fragments of their former selves.

Think of your new existence where comfort food is a distant memory and the closest coffee house rendered but a dream…your daily sustenance consists of what you might call “soup” and a morsel of bread that previously you would have discarded into the trash as something too trivial to even consider significant! Now turn down the heat and throw on the least insulated clothing you could find and slap on somebody else’s 20 year old hand-me-down shoes! Oh and by the way, there is definitely no sleeping in or getting sick because that will cost you your life!

Before you get to work you will be awakened in the middle of the deepest sleep only to be mentally and physically degraded so that by the time you even show up to work you really have nothing left mentally. Now in the bitter cold pick up the clearly inadequate tools of your trade and begin the hardest labor that you can think of…a work load that would have modern day human rights activists up in arms pulling the alarm!

Sounds bleak huh? Not realistic you say? Well consider the well documented case on Victor Frankl and many others who suffered under these conditions that are beyond most of our comprehension! Most of that story ends in unbelievable horror and tragedy, but Frankl’s is a bit different. You see before this predicament crashed down upon him he was a successful psychiatrist, so we might suppose that when it came to being prepared for psychological warfare, he came at least prepared in spite of the playing field being extremely tilted against him.

So what did he do to thrive? That’s right, I said thrive as I suggested in last week’s post! How could anyone even think of thriving in such a situation…of course we all understand and sympathize that of course that, would be impossible…but would it really? You see Frankl saw in his dire circumstances several opportunities. The first of which was to make it through this debacle and come out alive so that he could share his experience with others. He knew that if he could live, then he would have an incredible chance to share with the world what he had truly been through and how it had affected him and what tools he had developed! So his first discovery was that there was true meaning in his work!

The second lesson or tool he discovered was that he had such an incredible love for his family and wife in particular that he longed to thrive enough to make it to the face to face reunion. He discovered that the love for another human being could be so strong that it could give powerful meaning to our lives…perhaps this is why we feel so fragile without that piece of our lives in place…even why we might be willing to compromise ourselves just to hold on to it!

Yet ultimately, the greatest lesson that Frankl discovered was that there was an even greater meaning to be found in the struggle itself! You see Frankl was not quick at all to criticize the circumstances…of course clearly he would never have wished such a fate upon himself, however, to a certain extent, he embraced the experience to discover it’s true meaning!

I know it’s difficult for many of us to empathize with this type of painful struggle, but Frankl wanted us to know that there is indeed a silver lining. I think it’s certainly possible to argue that Frankl was exactly correct! Think about it! When life is just rolling along and you have plenty of food, good shelter, supportive family and friends…are you really at your best? Just think back to the times you have had true challenges…did you think more…were you stronger?

Thinking is the foundation for a life of thriving…and thinking is forced upon us in challenging situations. Unfortunately many of us just roll up in a ball and quit when the heat gets turned up…”why can’t it just be the way it was…I want my old job back…I want my old house back…where did all my friends go…even worse I can remember when I used to come and go as I pleased…where’s my freedom?”

These are questions of the soul…the stuff that we are really made of, but we give it no real thought unless somebody comes and tries to take it all away…consider the political climate…we wallow in our own apathy until the foundation of the economy shows a crack and we wake up to find that we have lost what we once believed to be unshakable! We finally speak up and demand action!

So take the lesson from Frankl: there is tremendous meaning in struggle! If  you just blow it off by using whatever anesthesia you choose to weather the storm, then you really miss the opportunity to grow and subsequently thrive! There is absolutely no doubt that we are at our best when even like Frankl we are stripped bare! Ironically, that struggle can clear all the noise so that we regain the focus necessary to find our true direction! So please remember that the storm is coming and many more after that…who will you be? When the tornado alarm blasts will you run down to the basement with Auntie Em or will you run headlong into the whirlwind and figure out why it has come your way? Don’t worry about being afraid, we all are…remember that courage is built only in the face of challenge…only in the eye of the storm will you find your true strength!

P.S. Watch Victor himself describe his thoughts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EIxGrIc_6g