We run around in our lives pursuing happiness.
We worry about finding meaning.
We fret in case we never realise our potential.
And the pursuit is often in vain.
But maybe that isn’t because those things can’t be found but simply because we’ve been looking in the wrong places?
Perhaps searching for what we should do, who we are and where we should go is actually a mistake?
Instead, maybe we should stop, look around, have a think about what is needed in the world and then see how we might be able to meet those needs.
This doesn’t imply that we shouldn’t develop our own unique potential.
On the contrary.
Meeting the needs requires us to be the best individual version of ourselves possible.
Viktor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who spent three years in a concentration camp. His wife and parents died in the camps and he himself saw and experienced inhuman suffering.
The conclusion he reached while in the camp about what he and his fellow inmates needed in order to survive was not the conclusion you’d imagine a victim of such horror would reach. But it is an insightful and inspiring conclusion –
What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude towards life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.
We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life and instead to think of ourselves as those who are constantly being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and right conduct…
These tasks and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus it is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way. (1)
It’s a lens. If we look through it hoping to see our route to (simply) personal happiness it will be blurred by all sorts of extraneous matter.
However, if we look through it to see if we can work out how we might contribute to the well-being and happiness of humanity we’ll be more likely to see our path.
Our purpose.
Happiness.
Meaning.
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- The Meaning of Life,…as I see it. (kerri62.wordpress.com)
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We are all connected and when we contribute to the well being of another human being,we all benefit. I Enjoyed reading this!
I completely concur (obviously!) but wonder why we are taught otherwise? We are led to believe that serving ourselves will make us the happiest and yet there appears to be very little evidence for that. I suppose self-serving gives us gratification and transient pleasure – but happiness? Not really as far as I can see. Thanks for the comment.
Culture teaches all kinds of things. It takes a lot of self inquiry to learn to step back, know when you need to step back, know when you need to act. There is no real map. Only perspectives arise out of the Net of Indra.
Maybe we just need to pay attention to whatever is going on in the moment?
Here’s to sharing the BEST parts of ourselves with the world.
Exactly.
As usual, your post is right on point for things in my life I am realizing. It seems that what is right under our nose is sometimes the most overlooked, yet the most important.
It is the simplicity, rather than the over-analyzing where life holds the most beauty (in my opinion ; )
Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you for your comment – so glad it resonated with you.
Thank you for these thoughts. They bring a little clarity to life, moment to monent. I would like to share this with you:
The War
The Last and Greatest War is at hand! The Last and Greatest War is invisible. The battles have been raging for ten thousand years and more, unseen and unstoppable. As humanity multiplies, the war grows and becomes more visible. The bullets and bombs in this war are words and ideas. The casualties are minds.
The enemy is known by many names, the most common of which are apathy, envy, hate, and greed. The enemy faces the forces of empathy, selflessness, love, and sacrafice. Ideas and beliefs are the weapons used, and are far more lethal then anything man has invented for destruction or control.
We are all born free, but only for a moment. The war invades us almost instantly, and remains with us throughout our lives. Many people are unaware of the war, and this is the enemy’s greatest weapon. People throughout history have glimpsed the war, fought bravely, and have given their lives to make the war known to others.
The war is on tv, cellphones, advertisements, music, all media, and in the very air that we breathe!
The war is becomming apparent and visible to more and more people, a sign that it will reach a conclusion soon. If the war becomes fully visible to all people, then the war will be over, and humanity will have lost. Apathy, envy, hate, and greed will have kept us blind past the point of no return, and the oceans will boil.
Like all wars, though, awareness and knowledge of reality are probably our best weapons – thanks for the comment.