[Music] imagine a life without purpose a ship without a compass drifting aimlessly in the vast ocean how meaningless and dull it would be consider waking up every day without a real goal or Reason to look forward to the only reason you get up is to go to a job you don't like just to make money to support a life that feels empty you fill your time with things that don't really matter to you just to try to feel better but if you could find something to live and die for suddenly the world would be alive
with passion and meaning it's been said by Friedrich Nietzsche he who has a why to live can bear almost any how today I want to help you find your why and your reason to get up from bed every morning in The Pursuit Of Life the value of having something to live for can be more than a goal it's a mission a calling that resonates deep within you Mahatma Gandhi once said the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others he found his purpose in fighting for India's Freedom think of
Martin Luther King Jr he fought for equality justice and human rights he once said if a man has not discovered something that he will die for he isn't fit to live he knew what he stood for and it propelled him forward his cause became his life's Mission his reason to live and ultimately something he gave his life for Mother Teresa devoted her life to the service of the poor and sick her profound commitment to her purpose led her to say not all of us can do great things but we can do small things with great
love her life is a vivid example of finding something to live and die for Victor Frankl a renowned psychiatrist and Holocaust Survivor could be the best example of how to find something to live and die for he believed that the primary human drive is not pleasure but rather the pursuit of what we find meaningful he said life is never made unbearable by circumstances but only by lack of meaning and purpose Frankel's observations in the Nazi concentration camp made it clear that those who could find meaning in their suffering were more resilient and more likely to
survive while he was in the concentration camps Frankel saw that people could be divided into two groups those who had lost hope and given up on life and those who still had hope and a will to live the people who had given up were more likely to get sick and die on the other hand the people who kept hope and found meaning in their lives were more likely to stay alive this showed him how powerful our beliefs and values can be and how finding meaning and purpose in life can even help us survive in the
toughest situations Frankel was once in a situation where he could have escaped from a camp but he chose not to instead of going after things like money Fame power or even his own Freedom he stayed to take care of the people who needed him his purpose which was helping others and staying with them was so important to him that he was ready to risk his life for it Frankel's choice to stay and help others was a deep and meaningful sacrifice he also wrote about people who couldn't cope with the terrible conditions of the camp these
people would say things like there's nothing any more to expect from life they had lost hope and meaning and without these things they began to give up on life without Something to Believe In and live for people's minds and bodies would suffer and they would lose their will to keep going it's a powerful reminder of how essential finding meaning and purpose in your life can be even in the most difficult times Frankel said that each person should look inside themselves and think about their spiritual side to find what makes life special for them he believes
that every person has a special reason for living and it's something they have to figure out for themselves the big question is how do you find what's meaningful in your life before we figure out the how it might help to understand the why in today's world many people focus on getting money status power or pleasure but according to Frankel chasing these things is often just a way to deal with a feeling of emptiness or meaninglessness in life these Pursuits might seem important but they don't truly satisfy your deep need for meaning they are like cheap
replacements for what's really important according to Frankel what really matters is finding your own unique purpose and living in line with your deepest values and beliefs doing this might be more challenging than chasing money or pleasure but it can make your life feel truly fulfilling and meaningful however the problem as Frankel saw it is that making happiness the main goal can lead to trouble in some parts of society like in the Good Vibes only movement people feel pressured to be happy all the time being happy becomes a must but happiness isn't something that can be
forced or ordered Frankel thought that happiness comes as a result of finding meaning and purpose in life not the other way around we focus only on trying to be happy without understanding what makes your life meaningful you might end up feeling empty or unfulfilled Frankel said one must have a reason to be happy once the reason is found however one becomes happy automatically as we see a human being is not one in pursuit of happiness but rather in search of a reason to become happy through actualizing the potential meaning inherent and dormant in a given
situation for Frankel the same idea that applies to happiness also applies to success instead of chasing success directly he believed that success comes naturally when we dedicate ourselves to something bigger and more important in other words if you focus on a meaningful cause and truly care about it success might come as a natural result if you care too much about success itself you might lose sight of what's really important and success might be harder to achieve this way of thinking tells you that finding meaning in life is really the key to both happiness and success
without it you might be drawn to things like pleasure money Fame and Power but these things won't truly fulfill you now that you've looked at why meaning is so important you can start to explore how to find it live with it and die for it Frankel's idea is that there's no single meaning to life that fits everyone all the time it's different for each person and can change depending on the situation he compared trying to find a general meaning for life to asking a chess champion for the best move in chess there's no one answer
because the best move depends on the specific game and the opponent's moves similarly the meaning of your life isn't something you can just make up something that's already there waiting for you to discover it Frankel you find your purpose by interacting with the world and understanding what the world needs from you so finding meaning in life isn't about following a set formula or copying what someone else has done it's about understanding yourself paying attention to your specific situation and finding what fits best for you at that moment Frankl outlined three ways that people can find
meaning in life creating a work or doing a deed this is about achieving something or accomplishing a task it could be a big project like writing a book or inventing something new or it could be something simple and kind like sharing food with someone who's hungry either way it's about doing something that helps others or adds value to the world experiencing something or encountering someone this path to meaning is all about connection it could be connecting with people appreciating nature or understanding truth and beauty Frankl talks about this as a form of love because truly
knowing something or someone requires caring deeply about it this way of finding meaning is all about the relationships and experiences that enrich our life the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering sometimes life is hard and suffering can't be avoided according to Frankel what matters in these situations is not the suffering itself but how you respond to it even in the darkest of times you can choose to find meaning by changing your attitude Frankel's insights tell us that meaning in life is not just something Grand and abstract can be found in your everyday actions your connections
with others and even in your struggles and pain so my friend when you find something truly meaningful to live for you can endure almost anything life throws your way if you found these insights inspiring and meaningful please take a moment to share this video with friends family or anyone else you think might benefit from it may the love of God be with you always [Music]