I decided to read Chapter 9, which focused on MEANING. MEANING is one of the six senses that Daniel Pink elaborated in his book. The six senses are essential in supporting the R-Directed side of the brain to complement our L-Directed reasoning.
MEANING has forced a new approach called logotherapy, which became an influential movement in psychotherapy. "Logos" the Greek word for meaning. MEANING is more then a definition according to Frankl "man’s main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in his life." The main goal in one’s life or drive is the pursuit of meaning. To find the MEANING is a drive that all human beings hold. It is possible to find MEANING through suffering or without any situation of hardship. Think about your life if it had no meaning.
Pink talked about two practical ways to begin the search for MEANING, which is spirituality and happiness. There is a strong relationship between the brain and spiritual experience. Such as reduced stress, heart disease and cancers. Spirituality shows us that life has some higher purpose and that will help lead to MEANING. Happiness will lead to the MEANING because an individual will look towards the good and fight off negative feelings. Pink explained three levels, which are "Pleasant Life", "Good Life" and "pursuit of meaning". When you reach the "pursuit of meaning" you know your highest strengths and you use them.
Pink ended with a summary of a best-selling book "Who Moved My Cheese?" The moral of the story is that change is inevitable, and when it happens, the wisest response is not to wail or whine but to suck it up and deal with it. This lead to the idea of a labyrinth where your goal is to follow the path to the center, stop and turn around and walk back out. So when you walk into the labyrinth, you begin to see your life because the purpose is the journey itself.
6 comments:
Life definitely needs to have "meaning" or else it's not worth living. I love the line you wrote "that change is inevitable, and when it happens, the wisest response is not to wail or whine but to suck it up and deal with it." Amen! Thanks for the summary of Chapter 9.
On the other hand, I'm pretty sure the assignment was that we all had to blog about Chapter 6 and any other chapters we got around to reading, but Chapter 6 was essential.
"An individual will look towards the good and fight off negative feelings" when we are in the pursuit of meaning. I have so many opinions about the meaning of life and you've echoed many of them in your writing. I do believe that some (very few) people have the ability to find meaning without hardship. However, it is the hardship that makes you savor the higher purpose of the journey.
Mary, I agree. I think when we struggle to get something and then we actually get it, it brings us so much more pleasure and achievement.
Branching off to an example from personal experience (first one to come to mind, not education related though - sorry) is when I was told during my pregnancy that my son had a bright spot on his brain. I remember crying for fear that he might have down syndrome (as the doctor said there's a small percentage that he would). This freaked me out beyond belief!
In the end, three months ago I gave birth to a perfect little boy and I cherish him even more, knowing there was a hardship there and it could have turned out bad, but thank God it didn't and so I definitely savor the result. Had I not gone through that experience, I would have just taken for granted that he was born as a healthy, beautiful little boy.
I am also a firm believer that hardship will shape ones life. As I look back upon my life and evaluate my ups and downs, it was my struggles, which help shaped me into the man I am today. I believe in “if it does not kill you, it only makes you stronger”.
Joel, this is a good summary, but what did you make of it? Why do you suppose that things like yoga, tai chi, or attendance at religious services has risen? What is the connection between meaning and school?
Barry, as I was reading the chapter, I was thinking the same thing but didn’t make the connection until you said it. Happiness and Spirituality are both factors that lead to MEANING. But the connection between education and MEANING, I would have to use the idea of the labyrinth. Education is our goal to gain knowledge, power, respect, experiences and background. Walking the labyrinth to the center is the same as our path in life as we progress through our stages of education. Education opens our eyes to see large picture which is our life.
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