Quote of the day by Viktor Frankl: 'Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose'

Have you ever felt like everything in your life was falling apart, yet somehow you kept going? I remember sitting in the break room of a Melbourne warehouse, my back aching from shifting TVs all morning, wondering how I'd ended up there with a psychology degree gathering dust.

I was in my mid-twenties, supposedly doing everything "right" by conventional standards, yet I felt completely lost. The job was mind-numbing, the pay was terrible, and my anxiety was through the roof. By any objective measure, my circumstances were pretty rough.

But here's what I discovered during those long shifts: the warehouse wasn't breaking me. My lack of direction was.

During breaks, I'd pull out my phone and dive into articles about Buddhism and philosophy. That's when I first encountered Viktor Frankl's work, and this quote hit me like a ton of bricks: "Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose."

Frankl wasn't just some armchair philosopher. This was a man who survived Nazi concentration camps. If anyone had the right to talk about unbearable circumstances, it was him. Yet he insisted that even in the darkest moments, meaning could light the way forward.

The man who found meaning in hell

Viktor Frankl's story puts most of our daily struggles into perspective. As a Jewish psychiatrist in Vienna, he was deported to concentration camps during World War II. He lost his parents, his brother, and his pregnant wife to the Holocaust.

In the camps, he watched as some prisoners gave up while others somehow maintained their will to live. What made the difference? Those who survived weren't necessarily the physically strongest or the ones with the best circumstances. They were the ones who found meaning in their suffering.

Frankl observed that prisoners who had something to live for, whether it was reuniting with loved ones, completing unfinished work, or simply bearing witness to the atrocities, were more likely to survive. He realized that while we can't always control what happens to us, we can control how we respond.

This insight became the foundation of his therapeutic approach called logotherapy, which focuses on finding meaning as the primary motivational force in human beings. Unlike other forms of therapy that look backward to understand problems, logotherapy looks forward to the meaning yet to be fulfilled.

Why meaning matters more than comfort

Think about the most satisfied people you know. Are they the ones with the easiest lives? Probably not.

I've noticed that the people who seem genuinely fulfilled often have challenging lives. They're the entrepreneurs working crazy hours on their passion projects, the parents sacrificing for their kids, the activists fighting for causes they believe in. Their circumstances aren't always comfortable, but their sense of purpose carries them through.

On the flip side, I've met plenty of people with seemingly perfect lives who feel empty inside. They have the nice house, the stable job, the picture-perfect Instagram feed, but they're asking themselves, "Is this it?"

This paradox makes sense when you understand that humans aren't wired for comfort. We're wired for meaning. Studies in positive psychology consistently show that people who report having a sense of purpose are more resilient, happier, and even live longer than those who don't.

In my book, Hidden Secrets of Buddhism: How To Live With Maximum Impact and Minimum Ego, I explore how Eastern philosophy addresses this same truth. The Buddhist concept of "right livelihood" isn't about finding easy work. It's about aligning your actions with your values, even when it's difficult.

Finding your why in the everyday

You don't need to survive a concentration camp or face extreme adversity to apply Frankl's wisdom. Meaning can be found in the most ordinary moments if you know where to look.

Back in that warehouse, once I started seeing my situation differently, everything changed. Instead of viewing the job as a dead end, I began to see it as a training ground for patience and humility. Each TV I moved became a meditation on presence. Every interaction with a coworker became an opportunity to practice kindness.

Was the job suddenly amazing? No. But it became bearable, even valuable, because I'd given it meaning.

Start by asking yourself: What am I doing this for? If you're in a job you hate, maybe you're providing for your family. If you're dealing with illness, maybe you're learning resilience that will help others.

If you're struggling with a difficult relationship, maybe you're developing the patience and compassion that will serve you for life.

The meaning doesn't have to be grand or noble. It just has to be yours.

Three paths to meaning

Frankl identified three main sources of meaning in life, and I've found these incredibly practical in my own journey.

First, there's creative meaning. This comes from what you give to the world through your work, art, or actions. When I started writing about mindfulness and personal development, even before Hack Spirit took off, the act of creation itself gave me purpose. Every article was a chance to help someone else who might be struggling like I was.

Second, there's experiential meaning. This comes from what you take from the world through experiences, relationships, and encounters with beauty, truth, or love. During my warehouse days, I found this in unexpected friendships with coworkers from all walks of life, each with their own stories of struggle and triumph.

Third, there's attitudinal meaning. This is the stance you take toward unavoidable suffering. When circumstances truly can't be changed, you still have the freedom to choose your response. This is where Frankl's philosophy really shines. Even in the camps, he chose to help other prisoners, to maintain his dignity, to refuse to let his captors define his inner life.

When purpose feels out of reach

Sometimes, finding meaning feels impossible. Depression, grief, or overwhelming stress can make everything seem pointless. I get it. There were nights in my twenties when I'd lie awake wondering what the point of it all was.

During these times, start small. Really small.

Maybe your only purpose today is to get out of bed. That's enough. Maybe it's to send one text to check on a friend. That counts. Maybe it's to water that dying plant on your windowsill. That matters too.

Purpose doesn't always announce itself with trumpets and fanfare. Sometimes it whispers. Sometimes it's just putting one foot in front of the other until the fog clears.

What helped me during those dark times was remembering that meaning isn't always about feeling good. It's about moving toward something that matters, even when you feel terrible. The warehouse job taught me that. Every shift I completed, despite my anxiety and doubt, was a small victory that eventually added up to something bigger.

Final words

Looking back, that warehouse job was one of the best things that happened to me. Not because the circumstances were good, but because they forced me to dig deep and find my why.

Frankl was right. Life becomes unbearable not when things get hard, but when we lose sight of why we're enduring the hardship.

The concentration camp survivors who made it through held onto something beyond their circumstances, whether it was the hope of reuniting with loved ones, the determination to bear witness, or simply the resolve to maintain their humanity against all odds.

You don't need extreme circumstances to apply this wisdom. Whether you're dealing with a soul-crushing job, a difficult relationship, health challenges, or just the general chaos of modern life, the question remains the same: What meaning can I create from this?

The answer won't always be clear. It might change over time. But the search itself, the refusal to give up on finding purpose, that's what keeps us going when circumstances get tough.

That psychology degree I thought was wasted? It eventually led me to write about these very ideas, reaching millions of readers through Hack Spirit. The anxiety and confusion of my twenties? They became the foundation for understanding others' struggles.

Your current circumstances, whatever they are, don't have to define you. Your search for meaning does.