"It did not really matter what we expected from life," Viktor E. Frankl says in one of his most famous quotes from "Man's Search for Meaning." "But rather what life expected from us."(1) I ponder this quote occasionally, especially around the first of the year, as new goals and resolutions abound through my newsfeeds, and friends often make a semiserious attempt to change.

As a child, I grew up when having a "Positive Mental Attitude," was king. My father, a quiet and gentle man, and my stepmother (not so much) were involved in Amway. Amway is a multi-level sales organization that sells pretty decent products. These products quickly filled our home, from soap in the shower to pans in the kitchen. As a sales organization, they held rallies consistently, and I attended some glamorous events. To a sales rep with a PMA, you didn't question what Life expected from you. You told Life what you expected from it, and the law of abundance was fiercely taught and believed in as the way to accumulate riches.

Of course, Viktor Frankl had a unique perspective on the ineffectiveness of telling Life what you wanted as a prisoner in the concentration camps of Hitler's Germany. Figuring out what Life wanted from you became the overriding difference between prisoners. In that depth of hell, Viktor Frankl found a way to survive physically and mentally; how much more manageable should it be then for us to ask, "What does Life expect from me?

Except for extreme situations, most of Life's questions don't feel like questions at all. Instead, we mumble, "Why don't I ever learn?" or "why do I always go home with the wrong guy?" or "why can't I live within my means?." It is easy to assume we have control over our future when things are going even reasonably well, and many authors focus on helping us find the meaning of Life during times of plenty. Mr. Frankl suggests we think in terms of being questioned by Life. "Not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct."

How do we acknowledge the questions that Life is asking of us? But, more importantly, how do we determine the right actions and conduct?

Journaling helps. A journal lets us articulate the questions we perceive from Life and those it most frequently asks. Time tends to diminish our emotions, however. As a result, we need help remembering the documentation of a particular question from one journal entry to the next.

Taking a page from the Zettelkasten methodology and incorporating it into our daily journal experiences will help us see the clustering events and chains of experiences that represent Life's questions. The first method to consider is the use of tags throughout your journal. I recommend using Red Gregory's two-tag system, including related notations. This tagging system allows you to use the power of links and the Obsidian plug-in Graph Analysis to explore all the related links you've made in the past.

Review the tagging system and substitute your perceived question instead of the organizational tags. For example, if you are trying to figure out how you constantly end up in the wrong relationship, create a RELATIONSHIP tag and enter subcategories on where those relationships started, i.e., bar, tinder, blind-date, etc. Instead of PRODUCTIVITY/time-management, a journaling tag might appear as RELATIONSHIP/bar. Create keywords to use in discussing all the related tags regarding location, emotions, friends who were present, and even time of year, weather, or anything to help spot a pattern in the behavior you are attempting to specify.

The second method works if your journaling method is nonlinear. Niklas Luhmann used a form of Folgezettle code to branch his zettelkasten ideas. For example, Journaling using a Folgezettle notation would comprise a bottom-up system where entries can start anywhere, and the writer adds to the chain as it develops. (2) Each journaling notation dealing with a relationship gets coded under the relationship branch regardless of the date.

Both methods help provide the individual with the tools necessary to find "the right answers to its (Lifes) Problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." (3)

Written March 2, 2023

Published simultaneously at Medium.com

References:

“Man's Search for Meaning Quotes by Viktor E. Frankl.” *Goodreads*, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3389674-trotzdem-ja-zum-leben-sagen-ein-psychologe-erlebt-das-konzentrationslag.
Bob Doto. "How to Use Folgezettel in Your Zettelkasten: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started." Writing.BobDoto.Computer, 2019, https://writing.bobdoto.computer/how-to-use-folgezettel-in-your-zettelkasten-everything-you-need-to-know-to-get-started/.
Ibid (Frankl)