Getting to the “How To”

Abstract

Turning once again to Ted, whose dilemma I began this book with—we saw how his existential angst gave him the motivation to figure out what gave meaning to his life and what was really important to him. It was Ted’s experience of nothingness that led him to question the meaning of his existence. His challenge was how to go from nothingness to somethingness. His anxiety about the finiteness of life became the starting point for his search for authenticity, control, competence, belonging, purpose, community, and meaning. It encouraged him to question things he had previously not dared to question or pushed away from consciousness. Paradoxically, Ted’s existential crisis helped him to gain greater insight about himself. It became the starting point of an exploratory journey that led him to discover what gave his life meaning and made his life more livable. His existential malaise enabled him to take responsibility for his life and to take meaningful action.

Each man must look to himself to teach him the meaning of life. It is not something discovered: it is something molded.

—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply: by the lives they lead.

—James Baldwin