{"id":18362,"date":"2022-05-02T08:56:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T06:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerstinhack.de\/?p=18362"},"modified":"2025-02-04T10:20:04","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T09:20:04","slug":"your-favourite-life-vol-2-my-piggy-bank-the-wandering-ant-and-the-meaning-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerstinhack.de\/en\/dein-lieblingsleben-vol-2-mein-sparschwein-die-wanderameise-und-der-sinn-des-lebens\/","title":{"rendered":"Your favourite life Vol. 2: My piggy bank, the wandering ant and the meaning of life"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

What do my piggy bank and travelling ants have to do with the meaning of life? Well, you'll find out today.<\/p>

This blog post deals thematically with the element of life Sense & productivity<\/strong> from my Swing<\/em>-concept of the 8+1 elements of life.<\/strong><\/p>

\"Sense\"<\/a><\/p>

The Bible says that God created fruit trees that all bore seed - according to their kind. For me, this is a fascinating image of the fact that the ability and also the desire to produce fruit is inherent in creation. Fruit is a gift for others - who are nourished by it - even across generations. That is why we have chosen the colour green and the icon of the plant for this element of life.<\/p>

There are people who no longer see any meaning in their lives because they are desperate, frightened or at a loss.\u00a0<\/p>

I've been through phases like that too - not to the point of abysmal despair, but still pretty shattered. For example, three weeks ago<\/p>

The piggy bank<\/h2>

My piggy bank was stolen three weeks ago. My house was burgled. The piggy bank with all the money I had painstakingly saved over eight months was gone. If this piggy bank and the other things that were stolen from me had been my purpose in life, then my life would have collapsed like a house of cards. It didn't. But I was still very sad.<\/p>

In addition to the grief over the loss and the frustration of having to start all over again, there was also the self-accusation.<\/p>

\"I shouldn't have left the glass in the corridor.\" \"How could I have been so stupid...\" <\/em><\/p>

Self-accusation is often a way of avoiding pain. Blaming yourself hurts less emotionally than feeling the pain and dealing with the raw, hurt feelings. It briefly felt pointless to start again. I felt frustration.<\/p>

But it's precisely the way you feel and react to the situation that determines what happens to you.<\/p>

This applies even if the accusations are fully justified. For example, when people steal piggy banks or - even worse - destroy their house and home. Simply terrible.<\/p>

I have the Psychologist Viktor Frankl<\/a> a role model. He says that meaning is not found somewhere, but can be actively given.<\/p>

\"We must learn and teach despairing people that it never really matters what we can still expect from life, but only what life expects from us.\" V. Frankl<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>

You may not be able to find meaning in an illness, but you can decide for yourself what meaning you want to give it. I can't make sense of the fact that the money I've saved is gone along with my piggy bank, but I can decide what meaning I want to give to my reaction to it.<\/p>

Why is Frankl in particular such a role model for me? Because his life wasn't easy. I only had a piggy bank (and a few other things) stolen from me. He was robbed of a self-determined life.<\/p>

Frankl did not develop this approach in his study, but under the harshest conditions - as a prisoner in a concentration camp. The purpose he gave to this difficult time was to discover and deepen his creative space. The concentration camp deprived him of many freedoms. This motivated him to buy out any remaining freedom: The freedom to listen to the birds, to use his knowledge as a doctor, the freedom to think for himself. He emerged stronger from this hard time.<\/p>

This approach has two advantages: Firstly, it reduces pondering - i.e. the tossing and turning of questions to which we cannot find a conclusive answer.<\/p>

Now you may be wondering how I stopped my carousel of thoughts after the theft? I tried to recognise my own feelings hidden under the accusations and find a solution to them:<\/p>

I felt the sadness and pain of having to start all over again, fill the piggy bank or rebuild my life.<\/p>

Only when the deeper feelings are heard and comforted does the heart become free first and then the head as well.<\/p>

I focussed on the one question that I can actually answer: \"What do I want to do now or what do I want to give meaning to?\"<\/em> This strengthens responsibility and the power to act. You become active, take responsibility and act. With what you have. I think that makes sense.<\/p>

But what happens when there is no sense?<\/h2>

The feeling of meaninglessness robs you of strength \"It's all so pointless!\"<\/em> could have been my reaction to the stolen piggy bank.<\/p>

Anyone who has ever felt depressed or had to deal with depressed people knows this sentence. These five words that have the power to rob you of all your strength.<\/p>

Quite apart from the fact that they are extremely universal: \"It is everything<\/em> so pointless\" is both all-encompassing and very vague - what does this little word \"everything\" refer to? Even if it feels pointless that my savings are gone, it doesn't mean that my whole life is pointless.<\/p>

Would I give the \"It's all pointless!\"<\/em> I get caught up in a maelstrom of thoughts. Then at some point it actually feels everything<\/em> pointless. It exhausts you. In the worst case, not just for a few days or weeks, but for your whole life. Do you know the phenomenon of the \"ant mill\"? It mainly occurs with travelling ants. As the animals usually follow the pheromone trails of their predecessors, this can lead to running in circles if the trails cross. Anyone who has ever witnessed such a reaction will see hundreds of ants running in circles. What looks like fun has fatal consequences for the animals. They run until they are completely exhausted or, if things go badly, until they die.<\/b><\/p>

If we compare our thoughts and feelings after a bad event with these ants, then an \"everything is pointless\" reaction can become a kind of thought mill. One negative and destructive thought follows another. There are more and more and you go round in circles. You become tired. Drained, exhausted. It robs you of your zest for life. The antidote: finding meaning and actively giving meaning is a life-giving reaction.<\/p>

For example, forgiveness. This reaction can change everything and make sense again.<\/p>

Forgiveness cannot change the past, but it can influence the future.<\/strong><\/p>

Elizabeth Keen in The Blacklist<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>

Finding and giving meaning<\/h2>

According to Frankl, people find meaning in three ways:<\/p>

  1. Shaping: doing or creating something (ability to work, creative values).<\/li>
  2. Experience: to experience something, to love someone (enjoyment, experience values).<\/li>
  3. Attitude: facing a hopeless situation with the right attitude (ability to suffer, attitude values).<\/li><\/ol>

    The third - the attitude thing - was my lifeline after I realised that I had been robbed. I quickly realised that I wasn't getting anywhere with accusations. In my current newsletter, I describe the path of forgiveness that I spoke to myself and the brazen thief. If you have read this Inspirational emails<\/a> in the future, register here. I would be delighted if you became part of the community.<\/p>

    And what about the meaning of life?<\/h2>

    You can hardly ask a bigger question than that. For thousands of years, philosophers, theologians and many other theologians have been trying to find the answer to this question. It seems to be part of the very essence of human beings to ponder the reason for their existence.<\/p>

    Many people long for more meaning in their lives. But it's not that easy. It is difficult to define the word. The German word Sinn has a multitude of<\/p>

    Levels of meaning of the word sense:<\/h3>
    1. one of the five senses, such as the sense of touch.<\/li>
    2. our thoughts, e.g. in the sentence: I feel like... (English longing, desire).<\/li>
    3. the deeper meaning, the significance of something.<\/li><\/ol>

      Philosophers have done a lot of work in the field of meaning. To compare the various philosophical schools on the meaning of life would go beyond the scope of this article.<\/p>

      I will therefore focus on the practical steps we can take to make our lives more meaningful.<\/p>

      The question of meaning - three practical steps<\/h2>

      In my opinion, there are three different approaches to the question of meaning.<\/p>

      1. Ignoring<\/strong>: The question of meaning is not asked or is completely lost in an overly busy everyday life<\/li>
      2. Intensive<\/strong>Constant questioning and searching for meaning<\/li>
      3. Pragmatic<\/strong>: Discover existing meaning and build on it<\/li><\/ol>

        Ignoring the question of meaning or putting it off until later means that you are living and missing out on opportunities to give your life more meaning.<\/p>

        Some people are unhappy in their lives. They think that if only they could find meaning, they would probably be happy. This is a complete overload of the question of meaning - moreover, it usually overlooks where meaning already exists.<\/p>

        Every person - if they look closely - already has some meaning in their life. This can be the simple fact that they are alive. Or a contribution that they are already making. Those who gratefully recognise the existing meaning and build on it act in a very meaningful way.<\/p>

        Meaning is in the doing<\/h2>

        Meaning is something you do. We find meaning through action. Or to put it another way: When we do things that we value as meaningful, we feel and experience meaning.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>

        The big question \"What is the meaning of life?\" cannot actually be answered by thinking, but by acting. By giving meaning to life.\u00a0<\/p>

        In a nutshell: Sense is what you do!<\/b><\/p>

        Three weeks ago, it made sense for me to forgive. This decision and action cleared the way for me to experience my life as meaningful despite the loss of the piggy bank and to continue in this attitude.<\/p>

        The question is wrong,<\/strong>when we look for the meaning of <\/strong>life.<\/strong>It is life,<\/strong>that asks questions.<\/strong><\/p>

        Viktor Frankl<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>

        I wish you that you can always find and create meaning in your life. And I sincerely hope that you can learn to forgive yourself and others and experience the inner and mental freedom that comes from this.<\/p>

        From the heart<\/p>

        Your Kerstin Hack<\/p>

        \u00a0<\/p>

        Perhaps my report and my experience with forgiveness has triggered something in you?<\/p>

        I explain exactly how forgiveness works in the new Learn to forgive course.<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

        \"awarded\"<\/a><\/p>

        If you book it by 5.5.22, you'll get it for Introductory offer price<\/span> from only \u20ac59 instead of \u20ac99.<\/p>

        You can book here now.<\/strong><\/span><\/a> You are free to start the course at the time you wish. I sincerely hope that you will be able to forgive yourself and others and experience the inner and mental freedom that follows.<\/p>

        Forgiving means releasing a prisoner. And then realising that the prisoner was you. - Kerstin Hack<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>

        Learn three simple and practical ways to discover what gives you purpose. It's easier than you think.<\/p>

        The webinar<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

        Finding meaning. Three ways to give meaning to life.<\/strong><\/p>

        shows you a tried and tested process.<\/span><\/p>

        I explain in more detail in the webinar:<\/p>