Know Your Why

I came across this Nietzsche quote while I was reading Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. (If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it.)

“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.”

Although simplistic, the thought has stuck with me. The fact I am contemplating the message on the daily is also confusing me. I know what it means, I just don’t know why it has struck such a chord.

Why can be a charged word. In Social Work class, we were encouraged to refrain from asking a client why. We were told it could sound accusatory (i.e., Why did you do that?). I understand the premise; I don’t agree with the directive. Sometimes, we need to know why to fully comprehend a person’s motive or intent. Sometimes, we need to know why to understand the whole story. Sometimes, there’s a darn good reason why someone said or did this or that. We won’t know if we don’t ask why.

I don’t think Nietzsche had that kind of why in mind. My interpretation is that we can cope, endure, or survive almost anything if we know our why. For instance, ‘I exercise so I remain healthy – that’s my why.’ ‘I’m graduating early so I can start making money – that’s my why.’ ‘I don’t drive a fancy car so we can afford a family vacation – that’s my why.’

According to Frankl, if we can find meaning and purpose in our actions, we can bear the unbearable. It seems to me, knowing our why requires introspection and insight. Knowing our why may also require an awareness and trust in our values and beliefs. In other words, sometimes we have to dig deep to know our why.

Then again, sometimes it may be as simple as ‘Hold My Beer.’

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