Living Right

I have talked elsewhere on Living Life, and Living Right. The following quotes from the 1946 book Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

"The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity — even under the most difficult circumstances — to add a deeper meaning to his life. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal. Here lies the chance for a man either to make use of or to forgo the opportunities of attaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford him. And this decides whether he is worthy of his sufferings or not."

"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom."

"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

My favorite quote from the movie - A Beautiful Mind

I've made the most important discovery of my career... the most important discovery of my life. It's only in the mysterious equation of love that any logical reasons can be found. I'm only here tonight because of you. You're the only reason I am... You are all my reasons.
- Russell Crowe as John Nash, in the movie A Beautiful Mind.

On love by Viktor Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning (1946) is a book by Viktor E. Frankl which chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate.
The following is one quote from this book

A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth — that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. 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. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way — an honorable way — in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, "The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory."

Pain, Conflict and Death

From the movie, "Shortcut to Happiness"

Daniel Webster (Anthony Hopkins):

"Yes, God could have created any reality he wanted.
But he created this one.
Birth, pain, conflict, and death.
Pain reminds us of all that which hurts us.
Conflict challenges us to be better than we think we are.
And death? Well, death.
Death gives us the chance to sum up all the good we've done
or left undone in life.
Yeah, It is a painful world."

On miracles

Quote from the movie 'Bruce Almighty'

God :

Parting a soup is not a miracle, Bruce. It's a magic trick. A single mom who's working two jobs, and still finds time to take her son to soccer practice, that's a miracle. A teenager who says no to drugs and yes to an education, that's a miracle. People want me to do everything for them. What they don't realize is *they* have the power. You want to see a miracle, son? Be the miracle.

For other quotes from the movie see this page on wikiquote.

Happiness and Success

"Don't aim at success--the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run--in the long run, I say--success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it." - Viktor E. Frankl in Man's Search for Meaning

Happiness

Happiness is a choice. I say this because I have found this to be true.

I had observed people who have not been rich, wealthy, or otherwise have material devices to bring happiness, and yet have been happy. These folks have stayed contended in what they have (or do not). This contentment leads to their happiness.

I have observed farmers work hard in scorching sun, with not enough money to even buy a shirt to cover their backs, while they manually till their farms. Even after such physical hardship, they can, and do, find happiness and contentment. How do they do it?

My father once said, that there are two qualitative factors in our lives. One being the 'quality of life' and the other being the 'quality of living'. Even though one factor could influence the other, they are not necessarily congruent.

Someone could have a very high 'quality of living', with the latest things money could buy, and yet may not be content, or happy. Such folks do not enjoy a high 'quality of life'. Their misery probably is with-in them. If it were outside of them, then they should have been able to acquire it, right?

In my earlier example of the farmer, the person does not have a high (or even average) 'quality of living' and yet, due to happiness, he/she does enjoy his/her life.

Another extreme would be situations where a person does not have a good quality of living and does not enjoy his/her life. I pity the poor soul.

The luckiest folks are the ones blessed with both. Happy and having means to live comfortably too.

If happiness is from within, how do we stay, and be happy. Maybe it starts in our minds, or our spirit.

We believe that a person is fit and healthy, if his body, mind and spirit is each fit and healthy. A healthy body houses a healthy mind.

A healthy mind can make the right decisions. Decisions such as between a shorter term easier way, versus a longer term although a tough path.

A healthy mind gives way to a strong spirit. A strong spirit sustains the healthy mind's decisions, even during tough times.

A simple exercise (again thanks to my father) is to say this to myself, every time I find myself unhappy - 'I choose to be happy, no matter what'. It turns out that my mind and spirit is able to find happiness, even if the situation was very depressive. This simple technique has a powerful effect. Over a period of time, it becomes second nature.

Simple, yet beautiful. Happiness attracts positive things in life and spreads in our environment.

Happy folks rebound with some inner- resilient strength even in the bleakest of situations. This strength (which comes with a combination of a healthy body, a healthy mind, and a healthy spirit) attracts other folks like a magnet. I guess, other folks would like to get magnetized by such 'strong' people.

Be Happy! Choose to be Happy. Remain Happy.

Until next time,

- Saurav.