Man's Search for Meaning is a 1946 book by Viktor Frankl chronicling his experiences as an Auschwitz concentration camp inmate during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose in life to feel positively about, and then immersively imagining that outcome. According to Frankl, the way a prisoner imagined the future affected his longevity. The book intends to answer the question "How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?" _{(source: wikipedia)}

Hadn't come across him before and had to look him up! To have a parallel made between his work and the expression of this post is an honour, it is impossible for me to imagine the extent and intensity of suffering (physical, emotional and psychological) he will have witnessed. Suffering does have that quality of being a teacher - a guru - and can certainly be seen as a powerful servant of conscious awakening for as you say "it is an opportunity for us to be self-aware at level we rarely achieve in any other state of mind". So if we can't get suffering (or adversity) to do it for us (or if we don't do it for ourselves by going through suffering consciously), who/what else ever could?

The wikipedia article goes on to say:

Frankl concludes from his experience that a prisoner's psychological reactions are not solely the result of the conditions of his life, but also from the freedom of choice he always has even in severe suffering

...we always have a choice, that's an EMPOWERING thought!

The manner in which you received this post and the eloquence (yes indeed :) with which you responded is really uplifting, many thanks @artibeus.

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