"What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him." ~ Viktor Frankl from Man's Search for Meaning
Wow. Too often, we want to live in the "tensionless" state we can find watching television or, for some of us spiritual aspirants, in the state of meditation—transcending the throes of our daily challenges in some yogic bliss.
But that's not the point of life. The point? To find a goal worthy of us and to spend our lives "striving and struggling" to fulfill the potentiality within us.
Reminds me of Robert Fritz's brilliant book The Path of Least Resistance (see Notes). He says that the big problem is that we have this conflict between our desire to have something and this equally powerful belief we can't have it/aren't worthy of it/etc. We bounce back and forth between these two poles desperately trying to relieve the tension and not realizing that the only way to do that is to follow Frankl's advice and create a goal worthy of us—a goal that gets us out of bed in the morning and keeps us away from the sedatives we choke ourselves with (from the pills to the TV and the other things we use to "discharge" that tension).
But, news flash: The pain is not going away. Not until we commit to our highest self. To a goal worthy of our potential.
So, how about you? What's YOUR goal? Still refining it? Here's a short-cut: What would you do if you weren't afraid? Combine that with: If you were ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED to succeed, what would you do? Answer those. I'll wait.
....
You do it? Good. That's your worthy goal.
Now, get to work!
(Oh, and the first time you hit a roadblock? You're going to want to go back to your old ways of discharging tension. Avoid that. Those old habits aren't gonna get you very far. Hold the tension and simply take the next baby step toward your worthy goal. :)
"I don't want to be saved, I want to be spent." ~ Frtiz Perls, founder of Gestalt therapy
More Mojo from Man's Search for Meaning
How to create the greatest year of your life: Get inspired by the Big Ideas from Man's Search for Meaning (+ 99 (!) other great books) conveniently packaged in a 6-page PDF + a ~20-minute MP3. All for 49 bucks. Sweet deal, eh? Sign up now and get your wisdom on!
|
PhilosophersNotes on Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl | |||||
send
print
| << Shawn Phillips : Blueprint for Brilliance | Menu | Fear and Excitement >> |
