Suffering is a moment of clarity when you can no longer deny the truth of a situation and are forced into uncomfortable change. I’m lucky that I didn’t get everything I wanted in my life, or I’d be happy with my first job, my college sweetheart, my college town. Being poor when young led to making money when old. Losing faith in my bosses and elders made me independent and an adult. Almost getting into the wrong marriage helped me recognize and enter the right one. Falling sick made me focus on my health. It goes on and on. Inside suffering is the seed of change. – Naval Ravikant via Tribe of Mentors
Reading this, I was instantly reminded of Viktor Frankl’s 1946 memoir, Man’s Search for Meaning. I mentioned the book to one of our speakers at TEDx Hickory last month, and he asked me to send him a one-page summary. For anyone that knows me well, you can imagine that was quite the challenge. The end result missed the one-page mark by a page or two and doesn’t exactly qualify as a summary. Frankl’s words are so powerful, I found it difficult to do them justice myself, so this piece is more of a highlight reel than a summary. Frankl’s experience demonstrates one thing: “Through suffering, when we are no longer able to change a situation, we can change ourselves.”
In the spirit of the holiday season, I thought our readers might appreciate the wisdom here more than another investment pitch. I hope you enjoy it as much I did.