Updated on March 4, 2022
Dr. Viktor Frankel, a renowned neurologist and psychiatrist, survived six years of subhuman conditions in concentration camps. He told the story in his book, “Man’s Search for Meaning” – a story of resilience. And I will also describe what it means to me.
It is the practice of the Deans of the Medical School, the National University of Singapore, to present academic staff with books that they find meaningful. For the academic year 2017/2018, I received a copy of Viktor Frankl’s classic tribute to hope from the Holocaust. And it came quite coincidentally in the last year of my “T-65” contract. Yes, I was due for retirement in June 2018 at 65 years.
What does the book mean to me? It had something, amongst other things, thought-provoking stimulation for my retirement planning. I have read, by then, reasonably extensively on how to retire meaningfully. Enlightened individuals would say, “have a purpose to live for,” “be useful,” or “do something you are passionate about.” But I have also seen individuals who do not consciously prepare for retirement: “don’t know what to do,” “so boring sitting at home, might as well go back to work.”
Through his six years of observation, Viktor Frankl concluded that prisoners who survived had created powerful reasons to live for themselves. Though incarcerated, they had one last freedom to choose their attitude, which could not be taken away. When prisoners could no longer change their situation, it became imperative to change themselves. He noted an apparent paradox. Prisoners who were less physically hardy could often survive better than those who initially appeared more robust. The difference in outcome was what went on in their mind. As the saying goes, “Two men looked out through the same prison bars, one saw mud, the other the stars.”
The reason to live could be based on people, and it could also be found on an ideal, as illustrated by Frankl’s cited examples. The reasons for maintaining focus on survival varied from individual to individuals. Frankl related how one man kept his focus on seeing his child and his family again after the war – his reason to live. Another (a scientist) wanted to complete his research. Both these fellow prisoners survived. And those who lost their will to live, amongst other reasons, perished.
Frankl’s story helped me keep the focus of my post-retirement life clear. It is indeed a peculiarity of humankind that we can only live by looking to the future. Yet, articulating our purpose is challenging, whether we are young or not so young. Nevertheless, in the closing days of my career as a doctor, I found I had to review what I live for. I love music, and it has helped me make things clearer.
I have adopted musical forms to express myself better. The melodic captures the theme (devote myself to facilitating others to reach the higher levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs). I want a rhythmic structure with a slow tempo, with periods of acceleration, deceleration, increased intensity, and softness. The melody and the rhythmic structure will rest on a harmonic foundation – a foundation of harmonious relationships with people (especially family members), society, and nature.
And I realize that when I help others move higher up the hierarchy of needs, I too move along towards enlightenment and self-actualization. And so, let the music I have composed flow and let the song’s lyrics be meaningful.
Vince
Dr Vincent Chong is a retired Professor of Radiology at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
