During his days in one of the concentration camps of the World War II, Mr. Victor Frankl, a physician found an interesting corelation. He could, almost with some certainty predict who among them would die in the days to come. The interesting fact was that people who had a ‘Why’ to live were the ones mostly survived. These people, not necessarily the healthiest ones, had a clear reason on what they would do once their suffering has receded.
This ‘Why’ or ‘the reason to live’ as Mr. Frankl records in his book, weren’t a big motivational purpose. In fact, most were mundane like ‘to finish writing their book’ or ‘take care of an aging mother’. But the most striking part was that a simple purpose could make them bear the worst of human sufferings like the holocaust. The quote “He who has a reason to live can bear any how” emphasises this simple yet profound truth – “with a clear purpose, humans can face almost any challenges and navigate their way towards their purpose”.
In this pursuit for the ‘Why’, one may have to face many odds in the form of challenges, setbacks, sufferings and pain. But for those who are truly purpose-driven, they understand that it is imperative to face these odds on to reach their goals. Facing and conquering these odds is actually the path to their purpose. The ancient Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurellos said “Whatever comes in the way, becomes the way”. Every setback, challenges or sufferings that were faced on our pursuit for the purpose will only make us one step closer to it. ‘Purpose’ can help bear any ‘how’, bearing any ‘how’ narrows our gap towards our ‘purpose’.
For instance, J.K Rowling, like many authors had a very humble start- a single mother in the streets of London who found it hard to survive. Apart from having a purpose to tell a story to the world on friendship and magic, she barely had anything else. Though rejected by a dozen publishers before the first Harry Potter book was published, all the challenges she faced hadn’t shaken her as she firmly clinched to her ‘Why’. This has pushed her through tough times and didn’t allow her to settle for anything less than publishing her work.
Purpose not only makes suffering tolerable but also heals our failures. With a purpose that fills meaning, challenges or setbacks seem small. The reverse is also true. When we have no true purpose to live, even a small failure could feel like we had failed in life. Thomas Alva Edison has reportedly failed nearly 10,000 times before finding a material that could be a fit for the bulb’s filament (his ‘Why’). If he hadn’t had this clear purpose, would he have endured through these 10,000 failures back-to-back?
However, having a ‘Why’ alone could not help us navigate through any odds, instead it is our commitment to action that sets the sail going. That is, having a ‘Why’ without deliberate efforts to face and learn from challenges would take us no-where. Mostly, the commitment to the ‘Do-Fail-Learn- Do again’ loop is the scientific reason behind the wins of many. For instance, Walt Disney found his ‘Why’ in creating animation videos for children. Certainly not a very creative person at his start, he was expelled from his previous job at a Newspaper for not ‘being creative’. In his animation company too, his ideas had limited trust from his partners and his initial films performed poorly. But Disney was least bothered on the failures and focused on the work instead. He made more videos, iterating each time what he had learnt from his previous failure. From one point, he became invincible in his craft and produced some of the greatest animation videos of all time (achieving his ‘Why’).
Counterintuitively, not all ‘Why’s are worth pursuing for. What one feels as their purpose could have negative implications to others. Naxalites, religious extremists and terrorists find purpose in spreading their deep-rooted ideologies which often involves harming others and causing societal tensions. These ‘Whys’ could have been wrongly injected into them through manipulation which calls in for introspecting our ‘why’ for moral righteousness and social good. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi had chosen ‘non-cooperation’ for his purpose to bring independence for our nation. This refrained many of his followers from violence and called in to choose for ‘socially and morally good’ ways to attain freedom.
Finding a ‘Why’ and putting in deliberate efforts to it is not easy. Particularly at a time where attention is scare and consumerism is at the peak, it takes awareness, courage and perseverance to achieve any ‘Why’s. Mindless consumerism and associated spending have forced us to stick to jobs that pay better than pursuing our calling. Many could not even find their purpose in life due to these distractions, making awareness a reliable antidote. Similarly, finding our ‘Why’ and choosing to pursue it may challenge our status quo and could be against societal expectations. It takes courage to resist this complacency and commit to our calling. Finally, we have to make up our mind that we are playing the long game and not for immediate pleasures or gains. Our focus and perseverance to our ‘Why’ determine our success.
In conclusion, the quote ‘One who has a reason to live can almost bear any how’ emphasises the age-old wisdom that having a clear purpose in life naturally gives us the endurance to tackle any odds. The essay discussed that these odds, which could be setbacks, challenges or pain are actually the path to attain the ‘Why’. As in the ‘Walt Disney story’, these setbacks and challenges are what shapes us to be the person who can achieve their purpose. All setbacks are actually real-world feedbacks to our efforts which should actually be taken as a positive thing. By taking these setbacks in its proper way, we iterate our way to our purpose as with Edison, who consistently learned from 10,000 failed experiments.
Moreover, the social and moral implications of one’s ‘why’ were discussed where the ‘Why’ of one person can have negative implications on the society, calling in to introspect the same. Finally, the essay discussed the present-day challenges associated with pursuing our purpose and their possible counter measures- ‘Self-awareness’ as an antidote for ‘distractions’, ‘Courage’ to tackle ‘complacency’ and ‘Perseverance’ for the long game than being content with immediate pleasures.