2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43
Logotherapy as an idea originated during Viktor Frankl's stay in a concentration camp. It was in such conditions, where the opportunity to get out of there alive was in a ratio of 1:29, that a psychological trend appeared about the importance of the meaning of life and free will. So, the psychologist began to notice a pattern between people who died, and between those who were able to survive in such inhuman conditions. The inner core that kept the human soul in unshakable order and clarity was the meaning of life. Frankl saw his relatives as his meaning, who, in his opinion, were waiting for him and hoping for a return (he later learned that his entire family had died). Later, he began to see meaning in his scientific works, which could go down in history and transmit his ideas even after death. An example of the work of logotherapy, according to the psychologist himself, was the provision of meaning to the stay of two other prisoners who were with him in the camp. They were suicidal, so Frankl tried to unearth in their lives what could potentially become a beacon for them, to which they would strive and for which they would endure any torture. For his comrades-in-arms, the meaning of life has become a small child who is waiting for his father's return, and a series of books that the prisoner has not yet had time to finish. This mechanism is not at all new, it was described by Nietzsche, “If you understand why, then you will endure any how,” but it was Viktor Frankl who was able to formulate a full-fledged theory of the importance of the meaning of life.
It would seem that the meaning of life and happiness are identical things, happiness is the meaning, isn't it? But still, no, according to Frankl's definition, happiness is self-indulgence, and the meaning of life is a contribution to the world, to people, to history. Happiness is taking, and the meaning of life is giving. An example is the life story of a psychologist himself, who in 1941 received a visa to move to the United States, where he could find refuge, safety and a chance to develop his own psychological work. However, in the same years, the Nazis began an active secret of Jews, especially pensioners, and Victor realized that it was a matter of time for the Germans to visit his parents' house. And he decides to stay and takes responsibility that he will help his parents in the concentration camp, even in the face of an incredible threat to life. Moving to the USA would give him a chance to get happiness, so he would protect himself, satisfy his needs, but the meaning of life made him go through an incredibly difficult life path, which in the end gave him a sense of fulfillment and inner harmony. The bottom line is that in the search for happiness, you will feel even more unhappy, and having achieved it, you will not become closer to realizing the meaning of life. And if you strive to make a contribution to the world, you will realize the very meaning of life - happiness will also come as soon as you stop looking for it.
Fate also appears in an unusual way, it seems to affect a person, but at the same time it is not viewed through the prism of fatalism. Frankl very aptly compared fate to the land on which we walk. Yes, it has its own texture, has a force of attraction that acts on us, but without it we could not run, stand, jump - use its resources as we please. That is, fate is the background on which we already play those scenes of life that we like. And a person always has something that will not be limited by any bonds - the freedom to perceive the situation in the way that the person desires. It was through this freedom of thought that the psychologist perceived the fact of being in a concentration camp. Only the dead can not have free will, because death is the absence of opportunities. Therefore, while you are alive, fight as if you are assured of victory. We can do whatever our soul wants, we must use any life situation to our advantage, and not obey the twists and turns of fate. In general, he perceived fate more as an experience, a set of facts, if we interpret his words in a modern way.
In general, the idea of free will extended through all the options for the fate of the individual. There were three of them: natural, social and psychological. Natural destiny is all innate characteristics of a person. They can be perceived as a musical instrument that was given to us by nature, but we need to find the notes and learn how to play on our own. Someone can get a luxurious grand piano, on which a dog waltz will play, and someone can get wooden spoons on which a person will learn to win Beethoven's seventeenth sonata. Social destiny is the features of our social interaction, our influence on society, and its influence on us. Through society, we can play certain of our inner aspirations, but often the meaning of life may not concern social relations, despite the fact that a person is a purely social individual. Psychological fate is all the data of our character. Each of our traits, subjectively negative or positive, should play for our team on the field of life. A mechanism of positive reinterpretation was founded, which made it possible to look at any characteristic not as an obstacle to reaching the peak of actualization, but as an additional resource that you just need to learn how to use.
It is the presence of the meaning of life that is the criterion for the final discharge of patients who have attempted suicide. So, now this is how you can check whether a person received a life lesson that could turn her vision of the world and provided her with a motive to live on. In my opinion, inaction and reconciliation with one's own fate, which was in most concentration camp prisoners, is also suicide. To bury yourself ahead of time is already a psychological death.
Therefore, I believe that changing the perception of the situation to one that would be useful to you is the basis of psychological well-being. Nothing is given to us just like that, we need to use everything that we have in our arsenal to achieve self-actualization, to realize our life mission. Happiness is something involuntary, selfish and ephemeral, therefore it is the meaning of life that gives our existence importance and fulfillment.
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