Man is Self-Determining!

In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning Viktor Frankl shares his insights on surviving and finding meaning in one’s life can be helpful and applicable to many people struggling today.

“When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Viktor Frankl

Man is not fully conditioned and determined but rather determines himself whether he gives in to conditions or stands up to them. In other words, man is ultimately self-determining and able to rise above life's circumstances while transcending one's personal environment through the use of will endowed by meaningfulness. Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment.

“Challenging the meaning of life is the truest expression of the state of being human.” – Viktor Frankl

Three main avenues on which one arrives at meaning in life.

• By creating a work or by doing a deed : Being useful in terms of functioning for the benefit of society. But today’s society is characterized only by achievement orientation and adores people who are successful and happy.

“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible." – Viktor Frankl

• By experiencing any of “tragic triad” i.e. pain; guilt; or death. How is it possible to say yes to life in spite of all that?? How … can life retain its potential meaning in spite of its tragic aspects? After all, “saying yes to life in spite of everything,” …presupposes that life is potentially meaningful under any conditions, even those which are most miserable. This in turn presupposes the human capacity to creatively turn life’s negative aspects into something positive or constructive.In a hopeless situation, facing a fate he cannot change; even the helpless victim may rise above himself, may grow beyond himself, and by so doing change himself and may turn a personal tragedy into a triumph.

“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how”. – Nietzsche”

“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.” – Viktor Frankl

• By Love : According to Vicktor Frankl, “love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality.” Essentially, it is impossible to fully understand and appreciate another person without loving him. Frankl says that when someone loves another person, he or she can see the potential of that person and the meaning the person ought to strive to find. By loving someone, one has the opportunity to help that person find his or her purpose in life.

“By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized.” – Viktor Frankl