What helps a person to survive even in a concentration camp? What gives you the strength to go on despite the circumstances? As paradoxical as it sounds, the most important thing in life is not the pursuit of happiness, but purpose and service to others. This statement formed the basis of the teachings of the Austrian psychologist and psychotherapist Viktor Frankl.
“Happiness may not be what we used to imagine it to be. In terms of overall quality of life, strength of mind and degree of personal satisfaction, there is something much more significant than happiness,” Linda and Charlie Bloom, psychotherapists and relationship specialists who have conducted numerous seminars on the topic of happiness.
In his freshman year at college, Charlie read a book that he believes changed his life. “At the time, it was the most important book I have ever read, and it continues to be so to this day. It is called Man’s Search for Meaning and was written in 1946 by a Viennese psychiatrist and psychotherapist Victor Frankl».
Frankl was recently released from a concentration camp where he was imprisoned for several years. Then he received the news that the Nazis had killed his entire family, including his wife, brother, both parents and many relatives. What Frankl had to see and experience during his stay in the concentration camp led him to a conclusion that remains one of the most concise and profound statements about life to this day.
“Everything can be taken away from a person, except for one thing: the last of human freedoms – the freedom to choose in any circumstances how to treat them, to choose your own path,” he said. This thought and all subsequent works of Frankl were not just theoretical reasoning – they were based on his daily observation of countless other prisoners, on internal reflection and his own experience of surviving in inhuman conditions.
Without purpose and meaning, our vital spirit weakens and we become more vulnerable to physical and mental stress.
According to Frankl’s observations, the likelihood that the prisoners of the camp would survive was directly dependent on whether they had a Purpose. A goal more meaningful than even themselves, one that helped them contribute to improving the quality of life of others. He argued that prisoners who suffered physical and mental suffering in the camps but were able to survive tended to seek out and find opportunities to share something with others. It could be a comforting word, a piece of bread, or a simple act of kindness and sympathy.
Of course, this was not a guarantee of survival, but it was their way of maintaining a sense of purpose and meaning in the extremely cruel conditions of existence. “Without purpose and meaning, our vitality weakens and we become more vulnerable to physical and mental stress,” adds Charlie Bloom.
Although it is natural for a person to prefer happiness to suffering, Frankl notes that a sense of purpose and meaning is more often born out of adversity and pain. He, like no one else, understood the potentially redemptive value of suffering. He recognized that something good could grow out of the most painful experience, turning suffering into a life illumined by Purpose.
Citing a publication in the Atlantic Monthly, Linda and Charlie Bloom write: “Studies have shown that having meaning and purpose in life increases overall well-being and satisfaction, improves mental performance and physical health, increases resilience and self-esteem, and reduces the likelihood of depression. “.
At the same time, the persistent pursuit of happiness paradoxically makes people less happy. “Happiness,” they remind us, “is usually associated with the pleasure of experiencing pleasant emotions and sensations. We feel happy when a need or desire is satisfied and we get what we want.”
Researcher Kathleen Vohs argues that “simply happy people get a lot of joy from receiving benefits for themselves, while people who lead a meaningful life get a lot of joy from giving something to others.” A 2011 study concluded that people whose lives are filled with meaning and have a well-defined purpose rate their satisfaction higher than people without a sense of purpose, even during periods when they feel bad.
A few years before writing his book, Viktor Frankl was already living with a deep sense of purpose, which at times required him to give up personal desires in favor of beliefs and commitments. By 1941, Austria had already been occupied by the Germans for three years. Frankl knew it was only a matter of time before his parents were taken away. At that time he already had a high professional reputation and was recognized internationally for his contributions to the field of psychology. He applied for and received a US visa where he and his wife would be safe, away from the Nazis.
But, since it became obvious that his parents would inevitably be sent to a concentration camp, he faced a terrible choice – to go to America, escape and make a career, or stay, risking his life and the life of his wife, but help his parents in a difficult situation. After much thought, Frankl realized that his deeper purpose was to be responsible to his aging parents. He decided to put aside his personal interests, stay in Vienna and devote his life to serving his parents, and then other prisoners in the camps.
We all have the ability to make choices and act on them.
“Frankl’s experience during this time has provided the basis for his theoretical and clinical work, which has since had a profound impact on the quality of life of millions of people around the world,” add Linda and Charlie Bloom. Viktor Frankl died in 1997 at the age of 92. His beliefs were embodied in teaching and scientific works.
His entire life has served as a stunning example of the extraordinary ability of one person to find and create meaning in a life filled with incredible physical and emotional suffering at times. He himself was literally proof that we all have the right to choose our attitude to reality in any conditions. And that the choices we make become the determining factor in the quality of our lives.
There are situations when we cannot choose the happier options for the development of events, but there are no such situations when we would lack the ability to choose our attitude towards them. “Frankl’s life, more than the words he wrote, confirms that we all have the ability to make choices and act on them. Without a doubt, it was a life well lived,” write Linda and Charlie Bloom.
About the authors: Linda and Charlie Bloom are psychotherapists and couples therapists.