The Answer We've All Been Looking for by Marc LeVine

Regardless of our individual social statuses we all strive to learn the answer to the greatest question of mankind's existence – What is the Meaning of Life?”

If you are old enough to remember the early 1990’s “coming of middle age” comedy film, City Slickers you’ll recall the almost iconic scene between Mitch (Billy Crystal), the "city slicker" on a mid-life crisis, self-discovery adventure and Curly (Jack Palance), the old cowboy content just roping cattle on the open range and eating beans around the campfire. Here it is:

Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is? [holds up one finger] Curly: This.

Mitch: Your finger?

Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that, and the rest don’t mean anything.

Mitch: But what is the “one thing?”

Curly: [smiles] That’s what you must find out.

Curly never offers Mitch any more of an explanation, because he has no idea what the "one thing" is for him.? Curly is not Mitch and has never walked in Mitch’s shoes.? How could he ever know what Mitch valued in life and why?

Mitch had never encountered a real-life “cowboy” like Curley in his repetitive, boring suburban existence. On his street most of his neighbors likely drove their cars to work. In Curly's world, most cowboys rode horses as their work - just like he did so happily from dawn through sunset. It was the old cowboy way of life. Not the rat race most of us have become accustomed to near cities.

These two men were as different as night and day. In fact, the wise-guy and know-it all (Mitch) was still searching for the answer to life's greatest question, while the anachronistic “cowboy” (Curly) seemed to already know the answer. Curly was obviously at peace with the unique answer he received from the Universe. In the film, Curly eventually dies in his sleep still expressing a broad smile on his face. That was an obvious sign of a life well lived on one man's own terms. Curly enjoyed being a cowboy and dying a cowboy; roping cattle for a living and mentoring other cowboys in his dying art. That was all he needed to bring a smile to his face BOTH in life and at the end of it..

We Learn Who We are from Our Happiness and Struggles

Author/Psychotherapist Viktor E. Frankl (“Man’s Search for Meaning”) learned about the meaning of life from a completely different perspective. He had been a prisoner in four Nazi death camps and lost much of his family during the Holocaust.

After months of deprivation and torture, many of Frankl's fellow prisoners saw no future beyond their suffering and began to feel helpless and hopeless in the shadows of the nearby ovens and gas chambers. Great numbers of them chose death over life - even just hours before their camps were liberated by the allies. This was their escape from the horrors they were enduring; seeing no obvious future for themselves or their families. It was their own "Final Solution" to the Nazis' murderous plans. They simply gave up because they didn't understand that surviving the war would have allowed them opportunities to reconcile what they had endured and turn their horrible experiences into meaningful wisdom to be shared with so many others.

Imagine what the Holocaust would have meant to us if Viktor Frankl, Elie Wiesel, Anne Frank didn't live long enough to write about its horrors and turn its evils into a fighting chance for hope for all mankind? Though Anne Frank sadly died in the camps, her father, Otto, survived his imprisonment to save her diary and bring her important story to the world. To which we learned from her and other fellow prisoners to say, "NEVER AGAIN."

Viktor Frankl considered the possibility of a better future for himself and rode a wave of hope until the very day he was liberated from Auschwitz. ?Frankl fought to survive the Holocaust and was able to carry on with his life as a Holocaust survivor, when he succeeded. ?He snatched light from darkness and learned a great deal about resilience and optimism from what he experienced in brutal captivity. Frankl then applied those same lessons to living and taught millions of others how to cope with some of life’s greatest struggles. He helped prevent countless suicide attempts by those looking for a way to escape from their troubles. The meaning of life for Frankl was to help others deal with all forms of anxiety, depression and mental illness. He witnessed too much hopelessness and suicide in the death camps and believed that he could save many lives.

Many of us spend far too much time bitching and moaning about whatever we may have lost or may never have had in the first place. Some are jealous of their family and friends for having more possessions than they do and die unhappy and unfulfilled. It's very sad and totally preventable by either coming to terms with the meaning of life and or getting the help they need.

We search nearly an entire lifetime trying to find the meaning of life, and it often just ends up being explained by others in our obituaries. That is because it may take an entire life for some of us to figure out who we are and what we meant to others. Many never do. A worthless inheritance left to others is the task of interpreting the meaning of someone else's life. What good is that? ?To die a stranger to oneself is like never having lived at all.

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Those of us who understand what our purpose and mission in life is can live much fuller lives and benefit others with great wisdom.?These are lives well lived!

In his book, Victor Frankl sounds a lot like President John F. Kenney when he tells us to ask life what it expects of us rather than tell life what we expect from it. Frankl teaches us that how we each deal with life matters the most. How we deal with whatever comes our way teaches us a great deal about who we are.?

In the concentration camps, many gave up on life far too early and never saw a promising future in which their horrible experiences could enlighten others on the true meaning of life and why we should strive to be happy, optimistic and appreciative even in the face of shear adversity.? Frank believed clearly in that vision.? He discovered great meaning and derived new purpose from his death camp observations, which he knew he could one day leverage to help make the world a better place. And to potentially save lives.

Each of us should be in a career that brings meaning to our own lives and allows us to bring meaning to the lives of other. That’s a well aligned life to lead, if it is at all possible.? But life is not a continuous stream of all good things coming our way.? We learn nothing from “the perfect life,” except gain more ignorance about the struggles others may endure with sickness and loss.? Is it is not the hard knocks, disappointments and struggles that teach us the most about life? Is it not the ways in which we deal with these challenges that ultimately define us??

Happiness and general satisfaction are often just "rest stops" along the bumpy roads through tougher times.?Happiness is among the most perishable of fruits in our lives. We often take happiness for granted and fail to call upon our strengths to help make it through most of life's struggles. We fail to understand that the meaning of life is not all about our own happiness or sadness.? It is about the richness that derives from the blend of these two opposite emotions that teaches and inspires us to do more for others and to give thanks for whatever time we have been given to make a difference.? We all wish to die happy, but it is much better to be satisfied in knowing that we were useful to others and showed there was purpose in our lives.

Life is relatively short. Learn from it as you live it. Consider how life's lessons can be applied to make things better - not just for us - but for everyone.? Let such goals become your passion. Feel strongly in you the satisfaction that doing more for others brings. ?In that exact moment you will have found the meaning of your own life, which is much like an indelible fingerprint. It will be different for all of us, but the world needs such diversity of experience, thought, caring and workable solutions.

The Author

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Marc LeVine is a graduate of Syracuse (NY) University with a degree in Industrial Psychology, Marc is currently Talent Acquisitions Manager at Thermo Systems. He is the recipient of the Excellence in Talent Acquisitions Award from HR Awards in 2021.

Marc's prior employment includes senior Human Resources and Staffing Industry management roles with Edgewood Properties in Piscataway, NJ, Brickforce Staffing in Edison, NJ, InfoPro Inc. in Woodbridge NJ and Plainsboro, NJ and Harvard Industries in Farmingdale, NJ, a former Fortune 500 company. He also served as Director of Human Resources for New Jersey Press, the parent company of the Asbury Park Press, Home News and Tribune and WKXW-NJ101.5. Earlier in his career, Marc served as Director of Career Services and Placement at Union Technical Institute in Eatontown and Neptune, NJ. In addition, Marc owned and operated Integrity Consulting Associates, a New Jersey based Human Resources and Social Media Marketing firm for 11 years. Marc also served as Council President in his hometown of Freehold Borough, NJ