“The Will To Live”

You have probably heard about the amazing and inspiring feat of Rob Konrad, a former Miami Dolphins Fullback.  He was fishing off of his boat alone, about nine miles from shore when he was suddenly thrown overboard at night without a life vest..  He swam the nine miles for sixteen hours.  A seemingly superhuman feat.

How and why did he not give up?  Yes, he is a trained professional athlete, but not a good swimmer.  The key was he had a purpose, he had/has something and someones to live for.  He said he prayed for help, thought of his family with wife, Tammy, and two daughters, eight and 10.  Then he said to himself,  “Look, I’m not dying tonight and I’m going to make it to shore”.

In “Man’s Search For Meaning”*, this is what the author, Dr. Viktor Frankl witnessed when he as a Jew was in Auschwitz.

He saw that even in the most unimaginably extreme circumstances, the will to live comes from having something/someone to live for, and/or a meaning/purpose to their life as yet still unfulfilled.

In your most trying moments search for your meaning.  You may not know what is.  You may not think there is anyone in your life.  If you don’t know it, or think there is anyone as Rob Konrad did know, then try this:

Go fishing.  Throw out a fishing line and you will catch it or someone.  In plain English, reach out to others.  You will be pleasantly surprised that there is always someone who will take your bait, someone who needs what you have to give them.

 “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”. – Dr. Viktor Frankl from “Man’s Search For Meaning

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstances, to choose one’s own way”. – Dr. Viktor Frankl from “Man’s Search for Meaning”

Go Fish 

Heart and Soul

*If you haven’t read this book…..Do