DISCOVER YOUR OWN PASSION

A successful publicist said that a person usually has up to two or three passions over their life and so they should give in to them. But what is to do when we feel lost and nothing motivates us? There are times in our existence of a true “crossing of the desert” because we have left behind what made sense to us without having got a new goal on the horizon.

Those who have faced separation, loss of employment or an existential crisis know about the disorientation experienced when venturing into the unknown territory of opportunity. When we have not got a dream to guide us, not even a plan B, we are assailed by the emptiness and fear of our lives not making any more sense ever. The only remedy to get out of this rut is to find another passion to guide us.

This is the cornerstone of Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy, he said that “life requires a contribution to every individual and it depends on the individual to discover what this one is”. There are passions that carry us along since we were children and other ones that we discover along the way. Gauguin only turned into painting when he was 40 and Lampedusa, the author of “Il Gattopardo”, did not start writing until he was around 60.

Both of them met the crisis and sought their own path where to grow their skills. They did it by taking control of their own destiny and taking what the father of Logotherapy said: “Human beings do not simply exist but they always decide what their existence will be like, what they will be in the next moment”.

However, what are we supposed to do when we do not know which way to take, where to move after a blow? What if there’s nothing we like or we feel excited about? This was a question Viktor Frankl was put often by his patients, and the Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist used to answer it: “If you do not know what should be your mission, you’ve already found one: to discover it”.

In this video, we will enjoy an excerpt from a speech that Dr. Viktor Frankl gave to a few youngsters -wide-ranging reflections whose usefulness and inspiration continues in full force today. It is more than worth watching. We wish you enjoy it.

Álex Rovira and Francesc Miralles