Man's Search for Meaning
I have been reading a book that has had a profound impact on me. It is a fairly well known book called Man's Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankl. Frankl is a psychologist who survived the Nazi concentration camps. My battle against cancer is nothing compared to what these souls had to go through. They were pushed to the edge of their humanity, and in this we can see what humanity really is. Here is a great quote from the book:“We have come to know man as he really is. After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord's prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips.”
I have told several people that this past year has been the happiest of my life despite the physical challenges that go along with an ongoing chemotherapy. When people inquire about this, I usually tell them it is because people are really nice to you when you have cancer. However, I think Frankl has helped illuminate some deeper reasons for this. His thesis is that meaning is the greatest driver in our lives not the pleasure/pain system that Freud argued. We can endure great suffering if we see purpose in it. Early on in my diagnosis God made something clear to me. My cancer is not all about me. There are people close to me that He is working on. I draw tremendous purpose from this.
To paraphrase Frankl, this is one of my favorite ideas of his: It is not what you expect out of life that is important, but rather what life expects out of you. As a stage 4 cancer fighter, this speaks volumes to me. I have been forced to move towards this perspective because of my cancer, and I find that it comes with much greater joy. If we measure our life based on our expectations we will almost always be disappointed and left unhappy. If we cherish the purposes life gives us, and drive our lives around those purposes, we will find joy. I have a long ways to go before I can come close to filling life's expectations but it is a road that I want to try to follow. Right now I believe God wants me to fight this cancer and that is what I plan on doing!
posted by Andy Tofel @ 9:57 PM
2 Comments:
At 10:46 PM ,
Constance Dent said...
That's beautiful Andy - as are you. Continued Reiki Healing Energy to you and your family and of course, prayers always. Cancer touches our lives in ways we never imagined - not thought we asked for. Now Renee, my brother's grand-daughter has it - brain tumor, Stage 3. Your Blog is of great inspiration and I send it to her with love hoping it will help her also. Thank you. Love, Prayers, and Blessings, Connie
At 5:06 AM ,
MycroftH said...
Dear Andy-
we had a controversy on "Machines Like us" regarding the reliability of sources for moral.
Now that I know what you're going through I understand your position better.
I'm through radiation and, 4 years later, chemo therapy of cancer of the lymphatic system, and presently in remission. And, as seems inevitable, the treatments led me to thinking about all the big questions, who am I, why me, what am I here for, and what is the reason for all this. It seems I answered some of these questions on a different basis - different cultures and traditions - but I think the results are not too different.
It's strange that we seem to need an imminent danger to develop an interest in those "last themes"...
I wish you the very best in your therapy. I can't pray for you, but my thoughts and hopes are with you.
MycroftH
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