Life lessons from a death-camp.

Many times we have seen ourselves searching for life’s meaning; and this is a question that often comes up to our mind, as in the case of the Austrian psychiatrist Dr. Frankl, the author of the book Man’s search for meaning and who suffered as a long-time prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps. What can we learn from this search? And how can we learn from feelings such as emptiness and suffering?

What he says is that first, what we need is a change in our attitude towards life. Maybe it can sound a bit contradictory, but we have to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead, to think of ourselves as those who are being questioned by life. Our answer must consist in right action and in right behaviour. And, furthermore, the meaning of life differs from man to man, thus it is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way, because Life does not mean something unclear, but something very real and concrete. They form man’s destiny, which is different and unique for each individual, and which cannot be compared.

Nevertheless, why do humans still have this question and have a feeling of existential emptiness? Because human beings need security, and nowadays he does not possess that instinct or tradition that tells him what he has to do. Instead, he either wish to do what other people do, or what other people wish him to do. And how is that emptiness manifested? Well, mainly in a state of boredom, and that emptiness is growing. In this case, man must recognize that it is he who is being questioned by Life.

Having said that, men can answer to life by answering for their own life. What is important, then, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment. Such a precept, confronts him with life's finiteness as well as the finality of his life and himself. It is, therefore, up to him to decide whether he should interpret his life task as being responsible to society or to his own conscience.

But what happens with suffering? We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when are confronted with hopelessness and when facing a destiny that cannot be changed. Then, what matters is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one's difficulty into one’s achievement; we are challenged to change ourselves. As Dr. Frankl said, in some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.

Finally what is important, and what we have to learn is that it does not really matter what we expect from life, but rather what life expects from us.