Man’s search for meaning – simplified!
"Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved." - Victor E. Frankl “Man’s Search for Meaning”
Ever since I can remember, I've loved learning about things that intrigued me and finding answers to question that others never asked. As a kid, I was always quiet and rather shy. I was very sensitive and empathic. I also had this huge thirst for knowledge, and maybe because my immediate family environment was so unpredictable, I loved submerging myself in a world of fantasy. I believe that in a way it was a sort of a “safe refuge” for me at the time, a place to escape into, a world of infinite possibilities and never failing imagination.
I remember spending a lot of summers at my grandparents’ small farm, located not far from the city I grew up in.
I had many cousins and family, and we usually spent one month of summer holidays there together, with our moms taking turns to look after us, so we wouldn’t drive grandma crazy. It was a time of fun and adventures, but I was the youngest in the pack and not always able to keep up with the rest, when they embarked on their wild “cowboys and Indians” chase. Not that fast to run or jump through the creek, nor brave enough to venture into the abandoned old house, standing still next to my grandparents’ farm. Not surprisingly the older bunch always found a way of ditching me and running off to chase bandits, or re-enact their favorite action movies.
Luckily for me, my grandma’s house was next door to the public library, and after a while the librarian didn’t mind me coming and spending time on the porch in a wicker rocking-chair, with different book every other day. I’m pretty sure I was the only kid in the summer who was coming there, but I had this curiosity in me that would not let me stop looking for answers to things that caught my interest, until I exhausted all resources available on the subject. Always looking for different points of view, perspectives, or explanations.
I found it fascinating reading about ancient mythologies that later turned into the ancient philosophers, mystics, and sages whose job was to observe other peoples’ lives and draw conclusions about human nature, the human mind, our belief systems, our limitations and strengths. It never seizes to amaze me how much people tend to complicate their own lives by bringing drama, blame, shame, fear and ego into it, or how they use those as excuses to justify their behaviour during different fazes of emotions. You can notice patterns of behavior governed by emotions: when they were happy, people would use different forms of expression; when they were angry it was another; and when they were sad – it was totally something else. But sometimes their reactions were the result of “old wounds” that triggered anger, guilt, or shame, associated with the past situations that never healed. Making all intentions of being kind and loving with one another vanish as quickly as the trigger was pushed by the other person, who wasn’t in many cases aware of them.
When I started to learn about a holistic approach to life, it dawned on me that people who took into account all of the aspects of our being (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual), and treated them with equal importance, were really onto something here. First of all, I noticed that this entire community had a mission to share their beliefs and goal of bring the Light into our lives. They all share their journeys, their struggles and profound experiences, to help others find the way to love, ease, joy, balance, abundance, and inspiration. And by openly talking with others about their own experiences, they not only heal their own “stories” but also help others do the same.
Someone may say that it’s good for them, but it is not his “cup of tea”, because he is realistic, firmly standing on the ground and not being “delusional”, or overly optimistic about his reality and life. But if he struggles with fear about the future, or allows anxiety run his life and wreak havoc in it, or if he hides behind addictions of any sort (food, substance, drama, to name the few), then I believe this person should re-examine his reality! Or at least ask himself a question if this is the life he really wants to live?
Just like the majority of holistic healers, I believe that we are not meant to suffer in our lives, but evolve into more powerful, aware and creative beings. And joy, happiness and abundance is our life purpose. I’m not crazy, in case you are about to ask if I do not watch TV or read the news. And in case you want to ask what does happiness have to do with violence, poverty, racism, terrorism, or global natural & economical crisis, I will have to say – NOT much. But the way we handle our global crisis is not exactly very effective, and solutions we come up with don’t work either.
Let me remind you that “war on terror” tactics did not bring any positive results. On the contrary, there is an incredible number of people who suffer because of it. Some countries resemble piles of rubble. Tons of people are misplaced from their homeland, orphaned, separated from families, traditions, customs, everything they’ve ever known. There is a devastating number of war vets suffering from PTSD, who cannot find their way back to “normal life”, because of the unspeakable horrors they witnessed or were part of. Ever day we hear about innocent lives been lost due to violence that creates even more fear and hatred.
I’m pretty sure that you remember the horror and devastation of 2004 tsunami, which claimed 250,000 lives in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean, on Christmas Day. Let me also remind you that the entire globe joined forces in organizing help in various forms to support, rescue and recovery, and re-built lives of the survivors in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand that were hit the hardest. Lots of funds went also into finding a better warning system in that area, affected by seismic movement prone to underwater earthquakes.
International effort was amazing and it engaged an unbelievable number of volunteers, who came together despite their gender, race, color, or origin. The question that comes to mind is: do we really have to experience or witness a disaster of epic proportions before we overcome the issues that divide and separate us? Are we not capable to change otherwise? Do we literally have to “hit the wall” before we decide to look at our lives and see that if we fuel hatred, we create more violence… but if we unite and treat each other with compassion, we can “move the mountains” and make miraculous progress?
Nothing will ever change if we keep waiting for the collective to take action. Nothing will change until each of us decides to examine our own life, and look at ourselves through a compassionate lens before we realize that we have a lot to let go of, which no longer serves us. Nothing will change until we start incorporating holistic approaches and decide to heal ourselves first, before we can make room for new and better things to come into our lives! We cannot make a difference in our environment if we hold onto fear, grudges, hatred, and negativity in our personal lives.We cannot make a difference in our environment if we hold onto fear, grudges, hatred, and negativity in our personal lives. So, don’t discard the idea that “Light is a new black” and give it a chance, if you cannot find other ways of transforming your life for good!
“Rather than searching for life’s meaning, remember that you always have the power to create it”~ Unknown
“Discontent is a first necessity of progress” ~ Thomas Edison
