Lessons Learned from Viktor Frankl's 'Man's Search for Meaning'

So, what has the COVID-19 pandemic been like for you? 

Recently, I finished reading Viktor Frankl’s famous book, Man’s Search for Meaning and was reminded of just how much power we each have to choose how we perceive and experience reality. 

While few experiences in life can compare to the horrors of WWII concentration camps, many lessons from this incredible book can be applied to the times we are living through now. 

Among the most relevant is this: 

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” 

This simple truth reminds us that nothing can make us feel a certain way unless we allow it. While people and circumstances can make maintaining a positive and hopeful outlook challenging, ultimately, we choose how we respond when life throws curveballs at us. 

When our state goes into lockdown, we have the power to choose how we feel. Do we focus on what we have lost and the injustices we perceive, or do we instead focus on what we have to be grateful for and what we can still control? 

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” 

There is nothing any of us can do to control the circumstances we all find ourselves in.  All we can do is make wise choices about the options we have available to us and keep putting one put in front of the other as we forward slowly toward our future.  

How frantically we push back against reality and how hard we rail against our circumstances dictates how draining and damaging our experiences are. Peaceful acceptance of the things outside of our control is essential to enduring adversity. 

Frankl quotes Nietzsche when he says: 

“Those who have a ‘why’ to live can bear with almost any ‘how.’” 

Humanity has survived other pandemics, and we can reasonably expect that the one we are experiencing now will also come to an end. This is a relatively short window of time in the history of humankind, and there will be life after COVID-19. 

Maintaining a sense of purpose and continuing to strive to achieve our goals is essential to our health and well-being right now.  

Something else that Frankel said that I think is especially worth noting right now is: 

“I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.”