how to find meaning in life

“Man’s Search for Meaning” was an international bestseller written by Viktor Frankl and based on his experiences in a concentration camp during World War II. Frankl was an Austrian neurologist, psychologist and philosopher who founded logotherapy, a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life's meaning as the central human motivational force.

The main idea behind logotherapy is that a lack of meaning is the chief source of stress as well as anxiety. Many emotional problems result from a failure to find meaning in life and can be resolved only through finding something to make life worth living. Logotherapy is a type of psychotherapy that believes that lack of meaning causes mental health issues, so it attempts to help people find meaning in order to help solve their problems.

Frankl holds the view that human behaviour is not just about biological and psychological processes but that human beings are mainly characterised by being spiritual. As spiritual beings they are not determined, but are able to act freely and responsibly, and to realise value and meaning. The uniquely human dimension is the spiritual part, including his concepts of “meaning”, “values”, “freedom”, “responsibility”, “self-detachment” and “self-transcendence”. The human spirit is the instrument that enables one to tune in. Spirit is the essence of a human being, the healthy core. The body can become ill, the mind disturbed, but the spirit can rise above a sick body and a disturbed mind. Frankl believed that life has meaning under all circumstances, no matter how bleak. According to Frankl “Finding meaning is the surest way to overcome doubt, despair, and a sense of emptiness”.

What are the main ways in which meaning can be found? The three values of experiential, creativity, and attitude are the principle ways in which one may find meaning in life.

Experiences: These are the experiences one engages in through encountering others in relationships of all kinds, and from being in touch with nature, the arts, culture and religion. The experiential pathway focuses on receiving gifts from life. It means savouring every moment of the day and appreciating the gifts of relationships and gifts from nature. Our lives are enriched when we are mindful of whatever happens to us and around us. It means that we are open to all that life has to offer with sensitivity and gratitude, even when life hurts.

Experiential values also come from having a positive attitude towards what life offers, whether it be an attitude of gratitude and appreciation or an attitude of savoring something good or learning something helpful. In other words, we can discover something beautiful and meaningful in ordinary situations provided we have a meaning-mindset.

The experiential value is consistent with the current emphasis on mindfulness, in how we relate to our daily experiences. The experiential value refers to appreciating the truth, kindness and beauty in the world in which we live, especially the relational and natural world; this is similar to Buddhist mindfulness teaching.

Creativity: These are the creative qualities one can offer through their own innate gifts and talents in areas such as work, activities, and goals achieved. The creative pathway to meaning emphasises the human being as a responsible, creative, and free agent capable of self-determination, self-regulation, and goal-striving. It also implies that the meaningful life is an achieving life and that each person has the opportunities to develop their potentials and to achieve something significant. Life isn’t about finding yourself, it is about creating yourself.   

Creative values are available whenever we use our unique talents to do something creative and to add some value to this world through our work, whether it is work or volunteering. The creative value refers to the personal responsibility of pursuing and practicing the value of self-transcendence and serving the greater good; this encompasses the enduring value of contributing to society, which is shared by philosophical and religious traditions. This value is not just a matter of doing what one is best at or doing what one loves, as emphasized by our contemporary positive psychologists; our motives matter. We experience meaning only when we make use of our gifts and fulfill our unique calling in contributing to society. Frankl’s concept of the will to meaning emphasizes that “self-actualization” is fulfilling only when it is oriented toward meaning, not pleasure, power and riches. Logotherapy maintains that meaning comes from self-transcendence, which is to reach out beyond oneself and do things for the sake of others, not from self-actualisation.

Attitudes: We can find meaning in life through meaningful attitudes even in meaningless situations. If we can find ways to choose meaningful attitudes based on some of our most important values it will help us.The attitudinal values one has realised and discovered by taking a stance toward a situation or circumstance that was courageous or self-transcending. The attitudinal pathway is especially important in situations of unavoidable suffering. In the concentration camps Frankl learned experientially that everything could be taken from a person except one thing: “the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way”.

Attitudinal values are especially important in such situations as unavoidable suffering. Frankl  claims, “This is why life never ceases to hold a meaning, for even a person who is deprived of both creative and experiential values is still challenged by a meaning to fulfill, that is, by the meaning inherent in the right, in an upright way of suffering”.

Attitudinal values are probably the most important to human survival and flourish in times of adversity and tragedy. It refers to the defiant human spirit to go deeper, higher, and broader – digging deeper into one’s inner resources, reaching higher for hope and inspiration, and reaching out to connect with other suffering people. This attitude is also based on the belief that an individual life cannot be destroyed if it is devoted to something bigger, higher, and more long-lasting than oneself. Having the right attitude towards suffering and life indicates that one has reflected on one’s life experiences and learnt to make sense of the difficulties, predicaments, and paradoxes of life. Logotherapy recognises that every life crisis or challenge is an opportunity for personal transformation and developing a mature worldview. Clients are helped to revise their assumptions and attitudes so that they can adapt better to their own life circumstances.

The attitudinal value refers to finding a positive way to relate to various sources of suffering, a value that is also advocated by Stoicism (acceptance of what happens, secure in the knowledge that we have done our best in any given set of circumstances) and Taoism (a Chinese philosophy that stresses living simply and honestly and in harmony with nature) among others.

In other words, these three time-proven values show us how to discover meaning in our daily lives in a way that makes us agents of positive change and more fully human.

According to Das (Professor of Psychology), “Meanings and values, unlike instincts, do not push an individual; they exert a pull on the person from the front”.

If you would like to explore your meaning in life please do not hesitate to contact us on www.holisticcounsellingireland.com.