Your suffering is trying to teach you something

Listen to your suffering for it’s trying to teach you something.

You’re probably suffering because there is no meaning and purpose in the way you’ve chosen.

Viktor Frankl spent three years in Auschwitz and other concentration camps during WWII. In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, he writes:

Even though conditions such as lack of sleep, insufficient food and various mental stresses may suggest that the inmates were bound to react in certain ways, in the final analysis, it becomes clear that the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner-decision and not the result of camp influences alone. Fundamentally then, any man can, under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him – mentally and spiritually.

If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an eradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete.

The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity – even under the most difficult circumstances – to add a deeper meaning to his life.

There is also purpose in life which is almost barren of both creation and enjoyment and which
admits of but one possibility of high moral behavior: namely, in man’s attitude to his existence, an
existence restricted by external forces.

The meaning Viktor Frankl is talking about here is someone’s inner decision to “remain brave, dignified and unselfish” in an environment totally restricted by external forces, the men of SS. Meaning and survival are interchangeable here. Prisoners survived because they were able to find meaning in such circumstances.

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others and giving away their last piece of bread.

Today, you and I are lucky enough not to live in concentration camps but we’re still restricted by both external and internal forces.

We push ourselves to do certain things imposed by social norms, toxic relationships, or the herd’s behaviour. And we’re suffering because of that. We’re suffering because our actions go against our definition of purpose and meaning.

For online entrepreneurs like myself, everyone’s quest around for “making the quick buck online” is another SS man who’s trying to break you and take your freedom, the freedom of deciding to do the hard work, the long work, the meaningful work which will help others first achieve their goals, and as a side-effect, help you achieve your monetary goals.

The daily quest for the magic pill gives you friction. It’s uncomfortable. You’re stressed. You’re not focused. The mental suffering almost always becomes physical suffering too. Pain in your chest, fatigue, back pain, stomach pain, skin problems, etc. (I’ve suffered all that myself – tell me about back pain!).

Instead of trying to escape all this by telling yourself “stop suffering” why don’t you try to listen to your suffering?

The moment you start to listen to your suffering and correct your actions, the mental and physical suffering disappear.

Remember. Suffering is another master who is there to correct your course, to show you the way of the least resistance, to help you find your true meaning and purpose.

PS: This is my second post on Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning. Here you’ll find a video I did quoting the most powerful words about success and happiness that I found in this book.

PS2: My friend Christopher Thelin said about this book: “I moved to a new town 9 years ago and I felt depressed for the very first time. I wasn’t just sad, I didn’t know how to function. I tried everything to become happy like I was for years and years. My wife finally convinced me to go to the doctor and ask for depression medicine. I had never taken any before and I was at the bottom. I shared it all with the doctor and then he wrote me a prescription. I went to fill my prescription and the pharmacist said you need to go to Barnes and noble for this. I took the prescription paper and looked and it said, “Mans search for Meaning” Victor Frankl. I read the book, got involved in my community and never looked back. It’s a life changer.”