We can find meaning in uncontrollable suffering by taking it as a challenge to triumph and change our attitudes
One way we can find meaning in life is through suffering. We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed. For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one’s predicament into a human achievement. When we’re no longer able to change a situation—just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer—we are challenged to change ourselves. Additionally, we can use our stress as a navigational tool to help guide our lives. In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice. It is one of the basic tenets of logotherapy that man’s main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in their life (see will to meaning). That is why people are even ready to suffer, on the condition, to be sure, that their suffering has a meaning.
References
- Frankl, Victor. (1946). Man’s Search for Meaning Chapter 2 Logotherapy In A Nutshell (p. 125). Boston, MA: Beacon Books.
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Type:🔴 Tags: Psychology Status:☀️