Man's Search for Meaning

[Guest [jc...]]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man's_Search_for_Meaning

 

For everyone who thinks there is nothing worse than benzo withdrawal, think again.  I started reading this book on Christmas day, I had read it 30 years ago, but remembered it as one of the better books I have read.  I read the first half of the book where he describes his experience in Nazi death camps and it was so very disturbing and really didn't do much for the holiday depression I was feeling except to realize how trivial what I am going through is in comparison.

[[4G...]]

I do sometimes think of war experiences which could be rightly described as Hell. I wouldn't say that the thoughts make me feel better- how could they- but I think it serves to remind us that we are not the only people who have been through a lot of suffering.

 

Similarly, I think of the Christmas experiences of the families who lost loved ones in the Paris atrocities so recently.

 

Christmas is seen as a happy time but we are not the only ones who suffer and I hope that we stand a chance of getting better. That will never happen to some people. RIP.

[[MT...]]

Great book and great point. I often think of folks who survived in death camps or Nazi occupation or POWs or really, just about any war experience. Unbroken was also a helpful book--the misery was so intense.

 

I like how Frankyl reminds us we have to find some meaning, some purpose, to help us get through suffering. Sometimes it's hard to find it but it's there. If nothing else I see myself as investing in a better future and being better able to serve in my job, be a better wife, mother, friend and make it so I can someday meet grandkids (my kids are unmarried and no kids now, so that's years away).

 

So yes, there are some worse things than benzo wd. Even if we're miserable and suffering, for the vast majority of us, we're safe and have the comforts of a roof, bed, food, etc.

[[be...]]

My mom and grand mother were in a Camp and survived. And Catholic. They also put intellectuals there. Stupid, as there were no brains left to help them win the war.

[[hs...]]

I bough the book from ebay a couple years ago, but didnt finish reading it. I think I will start again. Cheers