With over 5000 people losing their lives in the earthquake in Indonesia and over 50,000 people now in need --- that number rising rapidly --- we grieve for the tragic loss with each news update. Still amidst the rubble, we are reminded again of the undeniable power of the human spirit. The stories of the survivors help us see that all around us, even in our painful struggles amidst disaster, there are "meaning moments". Today, I was struck by an account of a seemingly small one:
"In Bantul, which reported more than 2,000 deaths and where most buildings were flattened, makeshift plastic tents dotted the roads.
In the afternoon heat, Sugiyo picked through the remnants of his brick home. He had been trapped with his family before being rescued by neighbors. His mother was killed.
His face lit up as he spotted a pink box containing diapers and baby clothes. 'This is for my 2-year-old daughter,' he said, holding it tightly in his arms."
Over and over again, we can learn from those who have lost everything. As I share in my book, Prisoners of Our Thoughts, about Viktor Frank's life and work, even the most profound grief and intolerable circumstances can open us to discover and experience meaning --- even in the smallest of moments. Frankl wrote from his experiences:
"A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He know the "why" for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any "how."
The meaning of life is MEANING. Sometimes we have to approach the search for meaning from another perspective. We have to let meaning find us. Sometimes it comes in distressing disguises as we learned from Sugiyo when he was reunited with the pink box, which brought a moment of meaning out of the rubble.
Perhaps, this particular story has meaning for me because I know Viktor Frankl's teachings have been a source of solace for people coping with tragic events, including after the tsunami that hit Indonesia. I am reminded that somehow, my book found its way into the hands of Nugroho Supangat and Istiqomah Djauhariah, managers for Dunamis Organization Services. The Jakarta-based professional services firm was in the process of developing a training program for volunteers working in the province of Aceh, which was closest to the epicenter of the quake. Their Volunteers’ Readiness Program was created to bolster individuals’ abilities to quickly and effectively respond to the vast devastation and suffering that they would encounter. In an article written in Training + Development magazine by Josephine Rossi, Associate Editor, she explained:
No doubt people willing to pledge their time and hard work toward such a humanitarian effort arrive with the best of intentions. But sometimes those intentions aren’t enough to get them through. Frankl’s experience in the concentration camps taught him to survive amidst great suffering: He learned to adopt a “will-to-meaning” perspective. For the volunteers, that means finding a deeper connection to their relief work, not a political or social motivation. Ultimately, that meaning will helps them deal with the suffering they witness.
The meaningfulness of life, as we know it, and don't know it, is manifest everywhere on this fragile planet. Wherever we are and what ever we do, it is this very existence of life that calls us to meaning. Rumi, 13th Century Sufi poet wrote, "It's never too late to bend and kiss the earth."
How are you bending and kissing this earthly experience?
How are you acknowledging meaning in your life?
All the best,
Alex
Alex Pattakos, Ph.D.
author, Prisoners of Our Thoughts
founder, Center for Meaning
Santa Fe, NM USA www.themeaningdifference.com
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P.S. I delivered The Eighth Annual Viktor Frankl Lecture in Toronto last week. It was an honor and meaning-full experience! I look forward to sharing the recorded program with you that will air on TV Ontario on BIG IDEAS and also be available on iTUNES. Stay tuned!
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Come visit the Viktor Frankl Collection at the Global Dialogue Center
