One of the books that has influenced me very deeply is a little volume bearing the title, "Man Search for Meaning" written by Viktor Frankl. What fascinated me by reading that book was his account of the way in which he personally faced the devastating experience of being a prisoner in a German concentration camp and managed to continue to find life meaningful and worthwhile. Frankl's experience in the concentration camp proved a testing ground for the philosophy of life he had already formulated before he was imprisoned, namely "Logotherapy". .
Logotherapy is derived from the Greek word "logos" which is "Meaning". Hence, logotherapy is a therapy that helps people find meaning in life and life situations. For him the primary motivating force for survival in life is to find meaning in one's life irrespective of the situation or condition one finds himself/herself. It is man's search for meaning that motivates his life and gives reason to live on. Humans are only able to live authentically when they live and die by the ideals and values that make meaning to them. In order to find a meaning in his life, to be saved from psychological and spiritual collapse, Frankl recalled Nietzche's words: "He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how", which so aptly summarized his own philosophy of life, and which could be the guiding motto for all mankind. "Whenever there was an opportunity for it" he says, "one had to give them a why-an aim- for their lives in order to strengthen them to bear the terrible how of their existence. In his book he tells us the answer for people who saw no more sense in his life, no aim, no purpose, and therefore no point in carrying on life any more. "What was really needed", he says "was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves, and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expect form life but rather what life expected from us.
