Something to Think About ~ Keep Looking Ahead

Victor Frankl in Man’s Search for Meaning speaks of prisoners who gave up all hope, “A man who let himself decline because he could not see any future goal found himself occupied with retrospective thoughts. . . .  They preferred to close their eyes, and to live in the past. Life for such people became meaningless. Yet, in reality, there was an opportunity and a challenge. One could make a victory of these experiences, turning life into an inner triumph, or one could ignore the challenge, and simply vegetate, as did a majority of the prisoners.” Pps. 82-83

Note: Frankl’s description of the prisoners is applicable to us. We need to find meaning in our lives, in our everyday actions. When we don’t have meaning in our lives we, like the prisoners Frankl describes, live in the past when we replay grievances and fail to forgive. When we let go of those things that continue to drag us into the past it is easier to get engaged in something meaningful (there are an infinite number of possibilities) keeping an eye on tomorrow. Keep looking ahead, never backward.