Overcoming the poverty of hope looks impossible in the midst of toxic news and life events, but we still have tragic optimism to draw on as articulated by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl.
Frankl defines tragic optimism as optimism in the face of “pain, guilt, and death,” or “saying yes to life in spite of everything.”
Optimism in the face of tragedy means we take the stance that no matter what happens in out lives, life is always worth living, there is always hope in hopeless situations and there is always light in darkness.
This doesn’t mean that out of every bad situation, everything will work out and be fine but we can find meaning in suffering.
This certainly applies to the experience of cancer because it is an unrelenting struggle.
As a ‘tragic optimist’ living with incurable cancer, I strongly adhere to the belief that life is worth living no matter what and I can turn my suffering into achievement and accomplishment despite the odds and a fate I cannot change.
Buried inside this tragic optimism is a majestic optimism, an optimism that is born out of finding a meaning in the experience and adapt accordingly. From the tragic to the magic, life is precious and still worth the fight.
But this majestic optimism can’t just be conjured up, it can’t be forced. It’s beauty is born out of tragedy and the intransigent power of the human spirit.
Transformation needs stimulus, evolution requires adversity and optimism comes from suffering. This is where the growth comes from.
Tragic optimism and the majestic optimism that is buried deep inside it is an extraordinary, Olympian and untouchable way of being that denies fear, Weltschmerz and nihilism a foothold.
We might not be able to change the situation we find ourselves in causing the suffering, but we can still choose our attitude, our response to it and to not let that experience break us.
This is where we decide we will not succumb to ‘giveup-itis’ and we welcome the responsibility of surviving and thriving with courage and dignity. Now is not the time to throw in the towel and vegetate. There is never a time for that.
Ultimately, we cannot turn the tragedy of incurable cancer into an overall triumph but we can triumph within it and still find that life still holds plenty of undiscovered pleasures.
The art of living cannot be mastered but it can be tragically majestic if we find the meaning in our travails and make the inner decision to live with extreme ownership.
Cancer might appear to be meaningless but it is part and parcel of our evolution and rich in opportunities and challenges to make a difference.