I often read stories where people say their children are their reason for living or surviving terrible hardships. So, what about those of us who don’t have biological children? You can’t just default to this answer. And for me, it makes me want to dig deeper to find an answer that resonates in my heart. I’m always reading new books on how to find meaning in your life. My latest read, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, which I acquired free through BookMooch.com is quite fascinating. It’s written by a psychiatrist, Viktor E. Frankl, who survived the Nazi death camps. I wanted to share a short passage on page 135 about The Meaning of Suffering. Here it is:
We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed. For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one’s predicament into a human achievement. When we are no longer able to change a situation – just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer (personal thought: Or for many us unexplained infertility) – we are challenged to challenge ourselves.
This is the beginning of several very intriguing pages. If you like to read this type of literature, I’d recommend giving this one a chance. I skipped past the personal stories from the camp itself as I don’t have the stomach for it but gravitated to what he built from this experience. To view a preview on Google Books, click here. To read reviews or purchase the book, click here.
It shocks me that people are forward enough to even ask this question, or to assume there is no other purpose for us to be here. I was teaching a Creative Memories class once and had two women sitting beside each other – one with children and one who has chosen child-free living. The woman with children turned to the other and said “why do you bother scrapbooking if you don’t have children?”. What I heard was, “why do you bother living?”. After I got over my shock I told the woman there were plenty of reasons to scrapbook if you don’t have children. We still have loved ones, go on vacations, and celebrate holidays. And yes, many of us do have children in our lives, whether they are adopted, acquired through marriage, neices, nephews or the children of our friends. We still have many reasons to appreciate and enjoy life, even if giving birth is not one of them.
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