23 Apr Finding Myself in a Clinical Study

by guest blogger Sandra Griswold

I was probably 19 or 20 when I first read Viktor Frankl’s classic Man’s Search for Meaning.  In my tumultuous college years, finding meaning drove my studies, my self-reflection and desire to know more.  I hungered to be more than my parents, to do and to be extraordinary.  Although it was required reading for Philosophy 101, I found the content both energizing and enlightening – a classic Oprah aha moment even before her beloved book club.

Recently, I read a new take on these classic publication in The Atlantic by author Emily Esfahani Smith.  She starts with Frankl’s premise: It is the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness. Bottom line (spoiler alert):  It is finding meaning and purpose that brings about satisfaction in one’s life.  Smith goes on to examine what it means to happy in American today.

While Gallup reports that 60 percent of all Americans today feel happy, the Center for Disease Control shows that 40% have not discovered real meaning in their live.  They have not identified their purpose or the reason that their lives have a satisfying purpose. Nearly a quarter of Americans feel neutral or do not have a strong sense of what makes their lives meaningful. Research has shown that having purpose and meaning in life increases overall well-being and life satisfaction, improves mental and physical health, enhances resiliency, enhances self-esteem, and decreases the chances of depression.

Having a happy life, actually comes from being a “giver” rather than a “taker”.

Fast forward 30-some odd years.  While I would like to tell you that I channeled all that passion into amazing achievements worthy of note in the National Geographic and the envy of high school reunions, the truth is I am a working mom in the suburbs.  I have settled into my sandwich generation role, shuttling kids and taking Mom to doctor’s appointments. What has changed is not my passion, but my perspective.  Now I believe that the ordinary – the daily tasks that we do for others – is really quite extraordinary.

The legacy you leave is about finding those opportunities, windows if you will, where the universe presents the possibility to find meaning in life.  Participating in a clinical drug trial for new medications is one of those opportunities that presented itself to me and I am glad I climbed through that window.   Don’t get me wrong, I signed up for all the benefits it provided me.  But at the end of the day I also felt as if I had given something back by participating in medical research.  In the words of Frankl, “Being human always points, and is directed, to something or someone, other than oneself — be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter. The more one forgets himself — by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love — the more human he is.”

Have you found your window yet?  Call the Institute for Advanced Medical Research today at 770-817-9200.