November 30, 2020
In the book “Man’s search for meaning” by Vicktore E Frankl …explains his experience in a Nazi concentration camp during the 2nd world war at a time when Hitler used to physically punish and kill Jews in gas chambers.
Vicktore was one of the Jews who was captured to be killed along with other Jews and held in the concentration camp. As he was in the camp for many days, his life became miserable with no food and physical punishment every day
Vicktore could see his fellow inmates dying every day, but he also noticed some inmates who survived very well in-spite of the difficulties they had been put through.
He noticed that there was one main difference between the people who survived and the people who started to die. The people who survived had hope
The people started to die when they lost the hope that they will ever be able to make it out of the concentration camp …the people who survived were the people who hung on to that hope that they will be able to get out of the camp; they did not want to die before achieving the purpose they set for themselves .
Vicktore, started to build that hope for him-self. He looked forward to meeting his wife, the love of his life. He had to live to have any chance to see her. That brought purpose to his life
Once he got that purpose, with this new energy, we was able to more effectively handle the physical difficulties in the camp, that hope of wanting to live to see his wife brought joy to him, he was able to give hope to his inmates
He started to focus on helping his inmates survive and he found when he focused on others his joy increased further.
He was finally able to survive the camp and live to tell his story to inspire others and also got to enjoy the rest of his life with his beloved.
We can see that hope has the power of giving us joy in our present difficult circumstances when we move towards the purpose we have set for ourselves, it helps us endure the pain of the journey with joy in our hearts.
Similarly if we are going through difficult circumstances today, we can make life enjoyable when we bring a purpose to our lives. It should be something that really matters to you…eg if you have a special child look forward to the day the child will build the skills to be totally independent, that brings the purpose to the difficulties you may be through day.
In a special way, I would encourage you spend some time in reflection about your Business…get that purpose…. why is it that you want to do business.. . What’s the difference you can make through your business …think of a purpose that is meaningful and will drive you with that purpose. Then set the goal for the next one year- 3 years or 7 years.
Once we have the purpose, we use the power of hope to give us joy in our current difficult circumstances too persevere and work tirelessly towards the destination we have set for ourselves.