I don’t know what this says about my social media habits, but this one popped in my feeds and I found it quite interesting. I know of several very intelligent people who, every time there’s word that some asteroid or comet is incoming, they cheer on the comet or asteroid. That’s a bit dark, but at the least we do seem to be cursed with having been born in “interesting times.” 

This movie reminds me a bit of 2012’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, but maybe with fewer recognizable “stars” and being a bit “smaller” in scope and focus. Last night in one of my meetup groups someone brought up the question of living a happy life and what’s required for one to have that. He had read that there are three requirements for one to have a happy life:

  1. Finding enjoyment in most if not every day
  2. Being happy with the achievements of ones life
  3. Having an understanding of one’s role or purpose in this existence

One of my first thoughts was that, while many of us see how children tend to try to live happy existences, they are not at all focused on or even aware of any of the last two requirements for happiness. And this brings to mind the role of suffering in our lives and how that would seem to work against having a happy life. My friend at the meetup session then brought up Viktor Frankl’s 1946 book, Man’s Search for Meaning, and the question of how some more than survived their experiences in a Nazi concentration camp while others died quickly. I mean, we can all philosophize and dream up mind experiments on happiness and living a meaningful life, but it does tend to come down to when it’s all challenged and we’re facing some sort of “end” that we find some kind of understanding of these big questions. I know that I found focus when my life took what felt like a sudden left turn and my CIDP took away my ability to walk and would later contribute to the death of my oldest sister, who suffered from a similar illness. It’s unfortunate that it would take an intrusive illness or “end of the world” scenario for us to recognize the good that we’ve had and maybe can have going forward. It would be nice if we could experience that revelation much sooner than the last moment of existence. Enjoy. Sorry about getting all “meaningful” and all…

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Tags: CIDP, end of the world, the meaning of life, video Wednesdays, Viktor Frankl

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