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The Meaning Difference:
A Personal Interview with Dr. Alex Pattakos
Part 3: The Crisis of Meaning and Personal Reflections
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Last evening (June 25, 2006), I had the opportunity to watch Matt Lauer on Dateline NBC interview mountaineers Dan Mazur and Lincoln Hall about their recent experience on Mt. Everest. Indeed, their story was quite different than the one described in my post earlier this month, Mt. Everest: Choosing Power, Pleasure or Meaning, when David Sharp died near the summit while some 40 mountain climbers passed him by on their way to the top.
In this case, Dan Mazur and two others, who had retained him as their guide, were willing to sacrifice their dream for someone they had never met, Lincoln Hall. The actions of these three people were only part of the "Miracle on Mount Everest" -- Lincoln had been declared dead the day before and survived the night without oxygen, food, water, or a tent in 20-below degree (Fahrenheit) temperatures near the summit before he was found! And, in his interview with Matt Lauer, Hall recalled the following: "I can’t die. I’ve gotta go back. I’ve got to—I’ve got to come back to the family----to my wife and boys. That was a commitment that I made to myself when I decided I’d go on this expedition. That I would come back alive. All I can say is that I was determined to stay alive. I told myself I had no option but to live."
In my book, Prisoners of Our Thoughts, I introduce Frankl's notion of a coping maxim, that is, his fundamental attitude toward survival upon his arrival at Auschwitz: "I'm responsible for living from now on in a way that I may make use of the slightest chance of survival...." (p. 45)
Lincoln Hall, it is fair to say, had adopted his own coping maxim; a fundamental attitude that helped him survive his ordeal near the top of Mt. Everest! Alas, here's yet another example of Viktor Frankl's principles at work and the difference that meaning can make in one's 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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