From his place in the hellhole concentration camp called Auschwitz, Dr. Viktor Frankl observed, “Man can survive any ‘what’ if he has a meaning.”Worthy words worth exploring as we all face the daily onslaught of a world at war on too many fronts, economic downturns, depressed job markets, and political rhetoric that is empty on action and long on blame. My dear friend and colleague, Marilyn Semonick, wrote these words that I think are worth passing along—from the award-winning Scorsese film, HUGO. Young Hugo Cabret tells his friend, Isabel: "Everything has a purpose, even machines. Clocks tell the time; trains take you places. They do what they’re meant to do. Maybe that’s why broken machines make me so sad. Maybe it’s the same with people. If you lose your purpose, it’s like you’re broken."Words worth pondering from a very young lad. When Isabel questions her purpose, Hugo responds: "When my dad died, I looked out this window and imagined the whole world as one big machine. Machines never come with extra parts. They always come with the exact amount they need. So, I figured if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn’t be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And, that means you have to be here for some reason too.” Perhaps it is time, during this summer season, to ask yourself what is your reason for existence!
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