2024.05.15 [Master of change]_ 56-57p

-In it, Frankl observes that life involves three inevitable varieties of tragedy: the first is pain and suffering, because we are made of flesh and bone; the second is guilt, because we have some freedom to make choices and thus we feel responsible when things don't work out as we had hoped; and the third is our ability to look ahead, because we must face the fact that everything we cherish, including our own lives, will eventually change or end.

-In my own experience, the worst way to be happy is by trying to be happy all the time, or worse yet, assuming (and expecting) that you ought to be. 

-Instead of placing unabashed happiness on a pedestal and making it our primary goal, perhaps we ought to embrace tragic optimism as a better alternative.

-First, a definition: tragic optimism is the ability to maintain hope and find meaning in life despite its inescapable pain, loss, and suffering.

-At that stage of development, toddlers don't expect anything less than a massive struggle, and thus they are ready to confront it.