I have always believed that suffering makes a person stronger--not always in body--but definitely in mind. Feeling emotional pain can toughen a person to future experiences that they may not have been able to get through without knowing that it can always be worse. But Frankl's article displayed this argument in a new way. He wrote about how being intellectual originally helped people survive in the camps because they were able to escape the situation and retreat into their own minds. An example that he gave was how he would think of his wife as he was marching to the work sites. Does a person have to have some sort of mental toughness to be able to go through suffering and come out stronger on the other side? I don't think this is true, but I think that it does help.
Frankl also wrote about how in their time in the camps, the prisoners were able to appreciate the smaller things that they would not have appreciated before. I believe that this is because when a person is knocked to the lowest form of life possible, they are able to take a step back and realize what a blessing all of life's luxuries are. This happens in all forms of suffering, but more strongly the more severe a form of suffering is.
I still believe that through suffering people become stronger--even better in some instances. But I don't think that that always mean that people are benefitting from their suffering.
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