“Meaning is unique to each person. It cannot be created or given. It must be discovered.” - Viktor Frankl
When I was 13, I realized Mom had a drinking problem. She was an angry person who struggled with her past. Over the next two decades, she battled with the bottle and checked in and out of rehab multiple times. Mom hit bottom. The doctor told her if she stopped drinking, she could regain her life. Or she could keep doing what she had been doing and she would die.
Mom choose life.
Mom’s recovery involved focusing outward and helping others. She found meaning by volunteering at AA meetings, a bookstore, a hospital, a conservatory, and a church. She also visited lonely elderly at their homes. Finding meaning, she put herself out there to heal the part of the world within her reach.
Last month Mom died, five days short of her 94th birthday. Helping others helped her stay sober for 40 years. Mom turned personal tragedy into triumph.
Each of us is unique, observed Viktor Frankl. Our existence is characterized by freedom of choice, personal responsibility, and human spirit.
1. Freedom of Will – We are free to choose how we respond to life and are personally responsible for our choices.
2. Will to Meaning – We are motivated to find meaning. When the search stalls, we experience frustration and meaninglessness.
3. Meaning of Life – We are called each moment to find meaning to answer the demands life places on us. The focus is not on what we deserve from life, but on what our responsibility is to give to life. You and I have the ability to improve humanity.
As you start the new year;
“Where do you find meaning?”
“Where do you experience frustration?”
“What choice(s) must you focus on to improve our world?”
to focusing on a life of meaning,
Wes
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