"Life" does not mean something vague, but something very real and concrete, just as life's tasks are also very real and concrete. They form man's destiny, which is different and unique for each individual. No man and no destiny can be compared with any other man or any other destiny. No situation repeats itself, and each situation calls for a different response. Sometimes the situation in which a man finds himself may require him to shape his own fate by action. Sometimes man may be required simply to accept fate, to bear his cross.
Every situation is distinguished by its uniqueness.
At any moment, man must decide, for better or for worse,
what will be the monument of his existence.
Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be,
what he will become in the next moment. Every human being has the freedom to change at any instant. Man is capable of changing the world for the better and of changing himself for the better.
A human being is not one thing among others; things determine each other,
but man is ultimately self-determining. What he becomes--within the limits of endowment and environment--he has made out of himself. In the concentration camps, for example, in this living laboratory and on this testing ground,
we watched and witnessed some of our comrades behave like swine while others behaved like saints. Man has both potentialities within himself;
which one is actualized depends on decisions but not on conditions.
Don't you love how clear Victor Frankl is on this subject? He encourages each of us to find a purpose and meaning to our lives and to make our lives what we want them to be, to cherish our chance to "live", to strive to improve and be better, to reach higher and to not be held down by our conditions or self-limitations. I find his words in perfect correlation to my gospel beliefs.
I really need to read this book. I love these insights. Thank you for sharing!
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