A reason for living

Discovering A Better Life
P.O Box 1540, Albany Western Australia 6331
Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418
E-mail: abl-alb@omninet.net.au

A reason for living
Karen was hardly a wallflower. In fact she was an above-average student and liked (if not envied) by most of the other kids in her junior high school class. She sat in the bath of warm water and opened he veins with a razor blade. She was dead when her mother found her. Jerry had matriculated from high school but decided to drop out of university before he had completed six months of his studies. He found a job, bought a car, and started going out with his girlfriend from high school again. He sat in his parent's backyard, popped a rifle between his knees, and blew the top off his head. Cases like those of Karen and Jerry could be multiplied many times over. Bright, good looking, talented - but unhappy, insecure, and bored with life. In 1994, Australia has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world. Sadly, rural areas suffer from this tragedy far more than the cities. Why so much disenchantment? While one must not give a quick and shallow answer to such a complex question, there does seem to be a common thread among the most troubled of today's teeenagers. Mary Griffin, author of A Cry for Help, writes: "Over and over, the (suicidal) adolescents, groped for words to describe what they felt was a void in their lives - the lack of anything to stand for, of an altruistic goal." It makes sense. Anyone with a why for living will find a how. If you have a goal, you have hope; if you have hope , you won't destroy yourself with drugs, a gun, or psychopathic behavior. Victor Frankl, a psychiatrist, spent years researching the importance of finding meaning in life. The concepts he developed are known as "Logotherapy". During World War II, he was arrested by the Nazis and separated from family, possessions, and all that was familiar. When he arrived at Auschwitz, even the manu--------------script-------------- of his book was taken away. "Now it seemed as nothing and no one would survive me; neither a physical nor a spiritual child of my own," he wrote. "I found myself confronted with the question of whether, under such circumstances, my life was ultimately void of any meaning." A few days later he had to surrender his own clothing and inherited the rags of an inmate who had been sent to the gas chambers. "Instead of the many pages of my manu--------------script--------------," writes Frankl, "I found in the pocket of the newly acquired coat a single page torn out of a Hebrew prayer book, which contained the main Jewish prayer, Shema Yisrael (Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is God. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might)." How should I have interpreted such a 'coincidence' other than a challenge to live my thoughts instead of merely putting them on paper? Later reflecting on the ordeal he survived, Frankl wrote in 'Man's Search for Meaning': "There is nothing in the world that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions, as the knowledge that there is a meaning to one's life... He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." Could our culture be cutting itself from its spiritual roots? Are we filling the lives of our children with too many priviledges and too few meaningful responsibilities? Have the things we customarily call "traditional values" been treated with contempt for too long? Perhaps it's time to begin incorporating ethics, self-esteem, and character development into the education of our children again. Teaching how to make a living is good; teaching how to live is far better. A sense of purpose is not an option to meaningful existence but a necessity. Parents, we will have to bear the primary resonsibility for communicating that message to our children. When children don't believe in anything, it is frequently because their parents don't either. Conscience, moral responsibility, and ethical behaviour must be modelled by mothers and fathers. I believe we've had enough Karens and Jerrys to let us know that something must be done now to give our children a reason for living. Otherwise more and more of them will give up the enterprise via suicide. Does your family hurt? Does it suffer from severe problems which seem to have no end - no solution? If so then you are not alone. And the good news is - help is available. If you would like to avail yourself of help to save your family please contact me by: Email me or write to me at P.O Box 1540, Albany W.A 6331. Telephone / Fax (08) 98 418 418

A reason for living

Karen was hardly a wallflower. In fact she was an above-average student and liked (if not envied) by most of the other kids in her junior high school class. She sat in the bath of warm water and opened he veins with a razor blade. She was dead when her mother found her.

Jerry had matriculated from high school but decided to drop out of university before he had completed six months of his studies. He found a job, bought a car, and started going out with his girlfriend from high school again. He sat in his parent's backyard, popped a rifle between his knees, and blew the top off his head.

Cases like those of Karen and Jerry could be multiplied many times over. Bright, good looking, talented - but unhappy, insecure, and bored with life.

In 1994, Australia has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world. Sadly, rural areas suffer from this tragedy far more than the cities.

Why so much disenchantment?

While one must not give a quick and shallow answer to such a complex question, there does seem to be a common thread among the most troubled of today's teeenagers.

Mary Griffin, author of A Cry for Help, writes: "Over and over, the (suicidal) adolescents, groped for words to describe what they felt was a void in their lives - the lack of anything to stand for, of an altruistic goal."

It makes sense. Anyone with a why for living will find a how. If you have a goal, you have hope; if you have hope , you won't destroy yourself with drugs, a gun, or psychopathic behavior.

Victor Frankl, a psychiatrist, spent years researching the importance of finding meaning in life.

The concepts he developed are known as "Logotherapy". During World War II, he was arrested by the Nazis and separated from family, possessions, and all that was familiar.

When he arrived at Auschwitz, even the manu--------------script-------------- of his book was taken away.

"Now it seemed as nothing and no one would survive me; neither a physical nor a spiritual child of my own," he wrote. "I found myself confronted with the question of whether, under such circumstances, my life was ultimately void of any meaning."

A few days later he had to surrender his own clothing and inherited the rags of an inmate who had been sent to the gas chambers.

"Instead of the many pages of my manu--------------script--------------," writes Frankl, "I found in the pocket of the newly acquired coat a single page torn out of a Hebrew prayer book, which contained the main Jewish prayer, Shema Yisrael (Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is God. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might)."

How should I have interpreted such a 'coincidence' other than a challenge to live my thoughts instead of merely putting them on paper?

Later reflecting on the ordeal he survived, Frankl wrote in 'Man's Search for Meaning': "There is nothing in the world that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions, as the knowledge that there is a meaning to one's life... He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how."

Could our culture be cutting itself from its spiritual roots? Are we filling the lives of our children with too many priviledges and too few meaningful responsibilities? Have the things we customarily call "traditional values" been treated with contempt for too long?

Perhaps it's time to begin incorporating ethics, self-esteem, and character development into the education of our children again.

Teaching how to make a living is good; teaching how to live is far better.

A sense of purpose is not an option to meaningful existence but a necessity. Parents, we will have to bear the primary resonsibility for communicating that message to our children. When children don't believe in anything, it is frequently because their parents don't either.

Conscience, moral responsibility, and ethical behaviour must be modelled by mothers and fathers.

I believe we've had enough Karens and Jerrys to let us know that something must be done now to give our children a reason for living. Otherwise more and more of them will give up the enterprise via suicide.

Does your family hurt? Does it suffer from severe problems which seem to have no end - no solution?

If so then you are not alone. And the good news is - help is available.

If you would like to avail yourself of help to save your family please contact me by:

Email me
or write to me at
P.O Box 1540,
Albany W.A 6331.

Telephone / Fax (08) 98 418 418