Real purpose comes from responsibility, sacrifice and serving something larger than oneself

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In a 1979 interview, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl warned that a generation raised in comfort risked losing its sense of purpose. At 63, I can see how right he was, and how many of us still struggle to understand that a meaningful life depends on responsibility, sacrifice and caring beyond ourselves.

Frankl recognized that we were pampered. All of our physical needs were met and there was no need to struggle. We became what musician and poet Richard Hell called “The Blank Generation.”

The reason for our listlessness is what Frankl referred to as “the unheard cry for meaning.” He said that power, prestige, pleasure and comfort do not satisfy a person’s fundamental need “to find and fulfill a meaning in his life, or for that matter, in each single life situation confronting him. If there is a meaning to fulfill, if he is aware, if he becomes cognizant of such a meaning, then he’s ready to suffer, he’s ready to offer sacrifices, he is ready to undergo tension, stress and so forth, without any harm being done to his health.”

I recognize that I am one of the fortunate people of my generation who embraced the unprecedented privilege I was handed and found something meaningful, something to live for. But where do we find this meaning?

A generation raised for comfort lacks a sense of purpose.
Photo by Vladislav........

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