Everyone suffers in life. Whether it is having divorced parents, getting dumped by your best friend, or having a mental illness- life is hard. And while there are definitely degrees of suffering, I believe that no one person's suffering is lesser than someone else's.
I would never compare Frankl's experience in Auschwitz to my struggle with an eating disorder, but I think both incidences are just as significant. As individuals, we are affected by things in completely different ways and something that seems trivial to me, can mean the end of the world to someone else.
Anyways, now that we know that suffering is inevitable- the question is what does suffering do to us? Does it make us stronger? Does it make us resent the world? How much suffering is too much? Is there such thing as too much suffering?
While there is no definitive answer to these questions, I think that they are important concepts to consider when discussing human suffering. From my experience, suffering makes us stronger. After having been in and out of hospitals for various mental illnesses, I know that I am capable of anything. While my past does not define me, it does demonstrate my strength and courage.
With that said, I do think that at some point, humans can break. When the suffering intensifies to the point where there is no end in sight, we do sometimes give up. I don't really know what parts of a human determine whether or not they will give up, but to some extent, I think you are born with strength. Frankl is one example of a strong individual. There were definitely more men and women like Frankl in the concentration camps, but there were also men and women who gave up and succumbed to their demise.
The concept of human struggling will never be "solved," but since suffering is seen all around us, I think that it is important to discuss.
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ReplyDeleteI get where you are going with your first point about how no one´s suffering is ¨lesser¨ then another´s, but I think (at least in my mind) I would reword it slightly. I would say that, while the degree one may suffer can very, the importance of that suffering to any one individual should never be undermined by another´s. The whole, ¨yes, but I have it worst¨ mentality is both caustic and completely unproductive, not to mention it makes the seemingly ¨lesser¨ sufferer feel ostracized and their problems unimportant. This trend of seemingly masochistic teeter-totter of constant ¨one-upping¨ each other´s problems only further damage those who gathered the will to share their struggle. That´s why being there to simply listen can be what´s most appreciated.
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