What If Tomorrow Didn’t Come?

Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), had a promising career in neurology and psychiatry in Austria in the late 1930’s.  All this changed when he, his new wife of only one year, and his parents were taken from their home by the Nazis and placed in a Jewish ghetto till 1944 when they were sent to the dreaded Auschwitz concentration camp.  At the age of 39, Frankl did not know if he would ever see his family or even tomorrow again.  One of the realities of Europe in the 1930’s and 40’s was that a person’s life could, and very likely would, change completely in just a day.

Frankl did not give up and just waited to die as so many others did, rather he continued his work and studied one of the greatest mysteries on the planet, other humans.  The result of this study can be found in Viktor Frankl’s masterpiece, Man’s Search for Meaning.  Let me warn you, where I believe that every success-minded person should read and study this great book, it is a very difficult book to read.  Frankl describes life in the camps in great detail and does not try to hide the horror they faced every day.

When I read this book many years ago it got me to thinking: what if I did not know if I would live to see tomorrow?  If I knew that there was a great chance I would never make it to tomorrow, how would I live today?  What would I do and say to those around me?  It might seem like a morbid question, however it is really very inspiring.  The fact is, none of us have tomorrow guaranteed.  Life can, and often does change drastically in just moments.  Think of those who go through a natural disaster.  You are sitting in the living room watching TV one minute and the house is blown apart in a storm the next.

When you look at life as temporal and that all you really have is right now, you start to think about what does your life mean.  “For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour.” Frankl wrote.  “What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment.” 

I believe this is where so many get confused and discouraged when they think of what it all means.  We, as humans, tend to look at the meaning of life on a universal scale.  As if the same meaning applies to each of us.  That is not true.  The right question is, “What is the meaning of my life?”  What is your destiny and purpose?  How has the world been effected because you have lived?  When you think about not seeing tomorrow, this is the only question that matters.

As a person of faith, I do not fear death itself.  I know what to expect and it will be good.  That is not saying I am in a hurry to get there.  It just does not frighten me.  However, the thing that does concern me is that I lived at all.  That I make full use of my time here and I do fulfill my purpose in life.  Success-minded people what their lives to matter.  They want it to mean something in the end.

Ask yourself this, “What if I knew I would not see tomorrow?”  What would you do different?  Now, start living that life.  Start today to give it all you have so that when your time comes, and we all have a due date, you can look on life and smile that you give it your best.  You know that you did what you were created to do and the world is better for it.  You know that you have lived.

To discover how you can achieve the dream you have believed was impossible for too long, read On The Journey To Achievement by John Patrick Hickey.  You can get a signed copy for yourself and get one for a friend, by going to http://www.johnpatrickhickey.com/it-is-good-to-set-goals-better-to-achieve-then/.  Now available on Kindle, Oops! Did I Really Post That? Online Etiquette in the Digital Age by John Patrick Hickey.

© 2016 John Patrick Hickey. No part of this may be reprinted or published without permission of the author.