Man's Search for Meaning - Kendal Chang

I read this book for my leadership class last year, and some topics we discussed in class made me think about this book. This book is about a man, Viktor Frankl, who described his experience in Auschwitz. He went through unimaginable suffering, and after he got out, he struggled to find meaning in life. He emphasized that the journey becomes meaningful not because of the outcomes we achieve, but because of the choices we make along the way. Frankl emphasized the idea of the “last of human freedoms,” where we have the ability to control our attitude in tough circumstances. Frankl said he could not change the situation he was in, so he chose to control how he responded to it. He tried to keep a positive attitude during this hard time, and that was a key part of his survival. This made me realize our attitude gives us the power to decide how we make life meaningful. A key to creating meaning on a journey is through love, responsibility, and resilience. In life, our path will have many challenges, but our response to that is how we make meaning and purpose from it. Even though suffering is difficult, Frankl says that suffering, when unavoidable, can become meaningful. It teaches resilience, empathy, and purpose. One of the main takeaways I got from this book was that life is never meaningless. Even in suffering, we can find purpose.


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