We must face up to whatever life has in store for us, good and bad, with an attitude that keeps us motivated in the present moment and with a continued desire to live a meaningful life.
Viktor Frankl lived through the horrible experiences of being a prisoner in World War II concentration camps with everything taken away from him. However, the one thing that was not taken away was his attitude. Yes, luck was a part of the reason why guards never chose to kill him, but many prisoners took their own lives to escape these horrific camp situations because they had lost their will to live. He was different than most prisoners in respect to how he was able to shift his attitude towards identifying a positive meaning in his life that still made life worth living even in these inhumane conditions.
Based on these experiences, Dr. Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, created the theory of Logotherapy. The Greek definition of logo is meaning. In order for life to be fulfilling, one must find meaning in life.
“In Logotherapy, our goal is not to gain pleasure or avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in life.” – Viktor Frankl
If we envision a meaningful future for ourselves, we will be motivated in the present moment to live life fully and worry less. Striving to find meaning in one’s life is a primary motivation for people. Everyone has a specific vocation to carry out that must be fulfilled. And recognition that death is on the horizon is a motivator to take action now.
Suffering is not necessary to find meaning in one’s life. But when suffering is unavoidable, we must find meaning when confronted with these hopeless situations. We always have control over our attitude, our choice of action and our conduct during all life situations, both positive and negative experiences. We must act with responsibility to “transform a personal tragedy into a triumph”.
To achieve successful outcomes we must not aim for success. Instead, be fully present in the current moment, with the only goal being to experience the moment fully and completely. Spend more time doing things that cause us to lose consciousness of time. When time flies by during an activity, that means we are fully engrossed in a fulfilling activity. Success will take care of itself. The combination of identifying future meaningful goals and spending the current moment getting lost in meaningful activities increases the possibility of a successful result. But even if the ultimate goal is not met, the act of being fully present in the current moment has a positive effect on our emotional state.