The book "Prisoners of our thoughts" is actually a quest for finding the true meaning of life. Alex Pattakos & Elaine Dundon
–the authors of this book– were induced by the writings of Victor Frankel (renowned Author of best-selling book 'Man’s Search for meaning') to organise his deep & thought-provoking observations into this book.
Being a Prisoner , the authors maintain, everything was taken from Victor Frankel...his family, his identity, his freedom & what not. yet he remained positive and kept convincing himself that it’s in his best interest to find meaning of all 'this' in these difficult circumstances instead of being prisoner of his thoughts. This inspired Mr Pattakos a lot and he along with his team reviewed all the works & Articles of Vicktor Frankel which eventually distilled into the book. They analyzed that his teachings are based on 7 core principles which they shared with us in the form of this book.
In the beginning the writers have mentioned that every person should exercise to choose his 'Attitude' in every situation which they tried to explain us through the short story of a man Bob , who is doing a job but at the same time he is not happy with his work. Every time he keeps complaining about his condition to his friends & colleagues but he is unaware of the fact that by complaining he is making his condition even worse . One by one his friends and his colleagues drifted away from Bob, because his presence made them feel negative and spoiled their mood. The authors also add that people are so much immersed in complaining that they are unable to see the benefits of the rich experiences of their work. People don't know that complaints trivialise our experiences and disconnect us from the useful opportunities. Here they wants us to make understand the aftermaths of constant complaining and exhort us not to use complaints as a "shield" when we suffer from anything in our life. And of course what makes the book best is that on every principle they have suggested some solutions to get rid of these diseases as they have mentioned "Every time when you suffer from anything in your life. Try to write 10 disadvantages that could happen if something doesn't go according to your plan, after that write 10 points that you could do about it and review it wholly. Then turn these possibilities into reality and even try to write anything positive of your own death if you die and with this exercise you achieve the maximum."
After that they emphasize on happiness and pleasure that both things though essential in our life , they can turn into illusions & divert us from our targets if we are too much obsessed by them , not to mention their temporary nature , besides having their own downfalls. They want us to make understand that if people always crave for happiness and most importantly pleasure and focus about it all the time , they may lack the ability to confront them. If people always seek for pleasure (hedonism)... they become unaware of those skills that would help them to modify and redifine their future , the authors believe.
The monograph talks about “Labyrinths of meaning” that labyrinth as an analogy for life is not a major puzzle that you need to solve but is a path that people should experience .Indeed the labyrinthine path is very convoluted & takes us through countless twists and turns. Everyone knows that the destination is around there but no-one knows which path leads towards our destiny. Here the authors try to teach us that "no matter how many paths you have taken ,one should always remember that every step you take teaches you something new about your life."
Besides it also laid stress on “Finding meaning” where they have pointed out that "we don't create meaning- we create it and we can't find it ,if we don't look for it." Now to find the meaning people should always be aware of their surroundings. As rightly said that “it is more important to be aware than it is to be smart”. Indeed the word “meaning” has many shades and infinite colors but one should always try to find meaning in everything. To find the meaning is to be aware regarding the movement because meaning is found in the awareness of the movement and when people aloof themselves from the movement, they lose their effectiveness. When people focus more on the result rather than the process itself their nervousness and anxiety increase which restrain them from getting the best result.

Expectations

The more your expect from something ,the more you disconnect yourself from the process. Victor Frankel calls it “Paradoxical intention”. The book conveys the message that when we constantly focus on past and future we deprive themselves from the "meaning of now". Meaning is waiting for you in every situation, all you need is to search it.

Imagination

Lastly it focuses on “Developing the skill of self detachment and Shift your Focus of Attention” that how a person should use his imagination to shift his/her focus of attention as Victor Frankel often keeps imagining himself as an observer & not as a prisoner. I Highly recommend this book to everyone who still don't know how to deal with Negativity, Depression, anxiety and especially those persons who are in search of “Meaning” and want to achieve the best of their lives without being the prisoners of their own thoughts.

                                                                                                                       Emai:----------tmrmohsin321@gmail.com