By Mike Lavelle
There was a time when we had a deep political divide, racial strife, civic unrest, wide-spread protests, riots in many American cities, and a pandemic. I was only superficially aware of the serious underlying issues and challenges as I was in the 8th grade at the time. It was 1968. It was one of the most challenging times in American history. In some ways, 1968 was worse than 2020, (numerous riots and protests were happening earlier in the decade, especially 1964, 1965, and 1967, and Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated). In addition, there was a pandemic (the H3N2 strain of the influenza A virus), that arose killing 100,000 Americans and 1-4 million worldwide.
I do remember seeing the news reporting the riots but at 13, I was insulated and sheltered from national issues. I don’t remember much of those early teenage years, except that the Beatles released the White Album, one of the best albums of all time – but I might be biased. I recently watched on Netflix, “The Trial of The Chicago Seven” and was reminded of the strife and conflict of those times. Interestingly, some of the same issues are still with us. I am sure some of our readers have much better memories and deeper experiences from those years.
What can be said regarding Thanksgiving at a time when there is significant national strife, conflict, and crisis? Of course, not everybody is affected, or affected in the same way, and in any given year some people face very difficult hardships and challenges. However, as a whole I am reminded that there have been far more challenging times in human history, and many who have survived terrible situations.
One of these significant individuals is Viktor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist. Dr. Frankl survived the Holocaust (although he lost his parents and a brother).
By no means do I suggest that our time or our current experiences equate to his; they do not for most of us. However, what I do intend to highlight is what Dr. Frankl learned and taught. Dr. Frankl wrote “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” His experience resulted in his developing Logotherapy – a meaning-centered school of psychotherapy. Key to logotherapy is finding meaning in the midst of suffering. In his book “Man’s Search for Meaning,” he describes how he learned to find meaning in every moment in a mindful and purposeful way. This was his key to finding strength and hope even in very challenging and terrible situations.
This Thanksgiving Day, his experience and wisdom suggests that taking a moment to be mindful of the good around us and to meaningfully recognize, with thanks, the things in life that give us hope and purpose, is one positive act that can help us during difficult times.
Mike Lavelle is retired and formerly worked part-time as the editor at The Vail Voice. He lived in the Del Webb community in Vail but now resides in Sierra Vista.
