Meaning of Life
We as people think of life differently, and
we vary thinking in ways to success. Today, you ask people how do they define
life? Some think happiness is what life is all what is it about, and some see
that life is all about success. The Book Man’s Search for Meaning by
Viktor Frankl, is one of the greatest books that gives people purpose of life.
According to Frankl “Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find
the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks, which it constantly
sets for each individual”. (Frankl, P.98) Frankl. Our life is about responsibilities,
however to find the meaning of life it requires to be willing to take
responsibilities as an individual to complete the tasks and find a way to the
right answers. Aiming to success is what most people do but achieving it
requires grit, growth mindset, and habits of mind that motivate us to become
successful.
First, Angela Duckworth defined grit as the
disposition to pursue very long-term goals with passion and perseverance. And I
want to emphasize the stamina quality of grit. Grit is sticking with things
over the long term and then working very hard at it”. (Duckworth). In other
words, grit is to be really interested in and willing to do whatever it takes
achieve it. Grit to do what we love with passion to achieve the goal. The
concept of grit is to know in advance which individual will be successful,
(Duckworth). The concept is to motivate those individuals to success. No matter
how much we suffer and face difficulties in life at one point, we think deeper
to find the right ways to live with motivation to achieve success. Yet, grit
requires mindset that leads to grit and success. In the article Significance
of grit Duckworth believes that grit is effective because setting goals to
achieve and working hard is the way to achieve our goal. “Everyone has his own
specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment
that demands fulfillment.” (Frankl, P.135). Success is not only about working hard, it’s
also about choosing what we want to do and complete the tasks to achieve.
Second,
in the article “Brainology” psychologist Carol Dweck discovered growth mindset
in decades of research on achievement and success. “The growth mindset is who
have been negatively stereotyped — one that they respond to with renewed
motivation and engagement.” (Dweck). Responding to motivation and engagement in
life to become successful it’s required to learning from the mistakes we
made, accept new challenges, and putting more effort to become smarter. Being
positive is the most important part of life, no matter what we face from life.
The positive way of thinking is the key to success because sometimes we think
we will achieve a goal but we do not, however we have to stay positive because
it wasn’t about effort, it would be a mistake to become better. “Everything can be
taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s
attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” (Frankl, P.65).
Having the choice of doing the way we
want to deal with any negative aspects in life. Dealing with it in positive
manner, learning what mistakes we have made to focus on that part to help
ourselves to become smarter and successful.
According to Frankl,
“Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one
thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. You cannot
control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will
feel and do about what happens to you. There.” (P.17).
Third, Habits of mind is defined as a way of approaching learning that
are both intellectual practical according the article Habits of mind from
the excerpt from framework for success in postsecondary writing. These
habits are important to find the way we think as individual. For example, Curiosity
is the desire to know more about the world. Openness the willingness to
consider new ways of being and thinking in the world. Engagement is a sense of
investment and involvement in learning. Creativity is the ability to use novel
approaches for generating investigating and representing ideas. Persistence the
ability to sustain interest in and attention to short and long term period.
Responsibilities, is the ability to take ownership of one’s actions and
understand the consequences of those actions for oneself and other. Flexibility
is the ability to adapt to situations, expectations, or demands. Metacognition
is the ability to reflect on one’s own thinking as well as on the individual
and cultural processes and systems used to structure knowledge. These habits
are the way of thinking. Each individual has a different way of developing to
support us to become successful. In other words, these habits are to help
us improve ourselves and learn the way we choose. Life controls us yet we
control the way of our actions and the way of responding to situations to
become successful. “A human being is not one thing among others; things
determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining. What he becomes –
within the limits of endowment and environment he has made out of himself. In
the concentration campus.” (Frankl, P.162). No matter what we do, to each
individual would see it from a different perspective. However, each individual
are responsible for their actions and having the potential. Taking
responsibilities is a main part of ours lives, it gives us purpose and meaning
of why we are living.
Finally, aiming to success requires grit, growth mindset, and habits of
mind. Girt is what make people to find what makes them interested in, and
willing to work with passion to become successful. Growth mindset is responding
to what motivate us to engaging in life to become successful in a positive
manner. Habits of mind are the way we find ways to think differently. Each
individual have different habits different ways of thinking. Relating these
three point the book Man’s Search for Meaning to motivate us to become
successful in life. No matter how hard the situation is giving up is not the
solution to it. These situations are the reason why we become stronger, and
successful. The book has inspired me with how deep we have to think to
understand the meaning of life. One of the best quotes in the book ” If there
is a meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering. Suffering
is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and
death human life cannot be complete” (Frankl, P.88). In other words, suffering
teaches us not everything can be achieved, even though there must be something
to each individual that make them suffer. It could be losing someone, not
achieve a goal we wanted, we suffer because we work hard to accomplish the
goal.
