Struggling with a new set of circumstances is to be expected when dealt the hand of living with a chronic illness. There are lots of people willing to give advice on how to live effectively - doctors, friends, family, bloggers (that would be me), self help book. The list goes on and on. Most of the advice I have received, I have thrown away. After all, no one knows me better than me. However, years and years ago- when the struggle was at its worst, for me. My doctor insisted that I read a book called “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl.
I am not going to do a big summary of what this book is about. I will just give you a fact about Dr. Frankl -he was a survivor of Auschwitz. The book is a chronicle of his experiences in a concentration camp. It teaches us about survival, and how attitude is everything.
Here is just one of the memorable quotes:
We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
It’s a really important read - and will definitely help with the journey that you are on. You can order it through amazon.
译文:
给受慢性疲劳综合症影响的群体一点建议（挑战慢性疲劳综合症：慢性疲劳综合症的故事）
面对生活中存在的一种慢性疾病--慢性疲劳综合症，我们翘首以待能够寻求一种新的解决方法。好多人都想在怎样可以让生活变得有价值这个问题上，获得一些建议。他们中不乏有医生，朋友，家庭，博客主（像我一样），以及励志的书。而且这个群体还在不断的攀升。我曾经也收到过很多这方面的建议，但是我对它们也只能弃之如敝屣。毕竟，没有哪一个人比自己更了解自己。然而，多年以前，也就是当我在人生中最糟糕的状态下彷徨挣扎时，我的医生建议我读这样一本书：维克多 弗兰克撰写的《活出意义来》。
我并不想对这本书的梗概大做解释， 在这里，仅陈述一个关于弗兰克医生的事实--他是二战期间奥斯比次市的一位幸存者。而这本书是关于弗兰克医生在集中营中真实经历的一部自传。在生存，以及以怎样的态度生存这个问题上，它给我们上了生动的一课。
这里仅引用书中一段难忘的话：
在集中营呆过的我们，都还记得那些在各房舍之间安慰别人，并把自己仅余的一片面包让给别人的人。这种人即使寥若晨星，却已足以证明：人所拥有的任何东西，都可以剥夺，惟独人性最后的自由---也就是在任何境遇中选择一己态度和生活方式的自由---不能被剥夺。
这本书确实是一部很有影响力的作品，一部可以指引你人生旅程的优秀作品。体味它，你也终将冲出亚马逊。