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Exercise Your Ultimate Freedom

Written by: Jamie Broughton

Article Overview: The notion that “everything’s a choice” may not be a new one for you. That said, I seen it thrown around casually, mostly by those who don’t fully understand it. At first glance the notion doesn’t seem like a stretch, but it has significant implications. Read on to find out more.

Exercise Your Ultimate Freedom

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable
ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”
~Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
U.S. Naturalist and Writer



In 1959, Victor Frankl wrote a book that shook the psychology world. It was entitled Man’s Search for Meaning. In it, he described his remarkable story – and revealed a fundamental discovery about man’s ability to respond to the world.

Frankl was a Jew, a psychiatrist and a prisoner in the Nazi death camps during World War II. During that experience, he witnessed unspeakable acts and endured some of the most degrading circumstances known to man. [image of barbed wire fence or something that conjured up a ‘confined’ sitn – avoid prison bars if you can – they didn’t use them in the camps]

In his time at the camp he lost much of his family. Some died of starvation and sickness; some were sent to the gas chambers. Only one sister survived. He lived each day not knowing if it would be his last.

At one particularly difficult moment, he lay naked and cold in solitary confinement. It was there he became aware of the ONE thing that could never be taken from him. His body could be tortured, he could be starved, but he himself could always decide how his circumstances would affect him.

Indeed, there is a time between “when something happens” and our response to that event where we have the freedom… to choose. This flew in the face of common psychological thought at the time, which held that there is no real choice, and that we are conditioned to respond in a predictable way to certain stimuli (you may recall Pavlov’s experiments with dogs).

Upon realizing his freedom to choose, Frankl started to exercise this miniscule freedom. Instead choosing to be miserable, he chose something else. In the midst of terrible torture, he would remove himself mentally, in essence becoming a fly on the wall of his own situation.

He would think of life back in academia after the war. He would describe himself, in his mind’s eye, giving lectures on the insights he was having about his torture, during his very torture.

His mental freedom to exercise internal choices grew and grew. He later became an inspiration to prisoners (and even some guards) about how to find meaning amidst the difficulties they faced – how to live with dignity in their circumstances.

Frankl’s approach to his trials was not a common one. The fact that it did occur, however, shows us that it is indeed possible to choose our response despite the most horrendous of situations.

When faced with tough challenges or poor results, what do you choose to do?

Fieldwork:

The notion that “everything’s a choice” may not be a new one for you. That said, I seen it thrown around casually, mostly by those who don’t fully understand it. At first glance the notion doesn’t seem like a stretch, but it has significant implications.

It’s easy to take credit for choices we make that yield great results. The tougher part is dealing with the opposite: “unfavorable” results.

In difficult situations, it’s seductive to start pointing fingers of responsibility outside ourselves. We may throw up our hands and say: “Not my problem! He/she/the company/the economy/the whatever did it TO me. Nothing I can do.”

While your role in causing the situation may be debatable, a defeatist perspective about the result ignores your greatest gift – the ability to consciously choose a constructive response.

In the previous issue, “New Eyes Transform Results,” I challenged you to let go of a thought that was no longer serving you and replace it with a new, more useful one.

You’re likely in one of three places right now:

1. You’ve decided let go of the thought that was holding you back and consider another perspective. Great! What new action can you take in line with your new belief?
2. You’re still resisting letting go of that negative thought.

So, if you’re in #2 and:

a) you’re resisting adopting a new more constructive belief, and
b) you subscribe to Frankl’s insight that we always have a choice (no matter what the circumstances)…

… then the big question is:

“Why are you choosing to continue experiencing your existing results?”

Think about it.

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  The Happiness Choice

Article Tags: barbed wire fence, conscious endeavor, fly on the wall, fundamental discovery, gas chambers, henry david thoreau, man image, naturalist, nazi death camps, pavlov, prison bars, psychiatrist, remarkable story, solitary confinement, starvation, stimuli, unquestionable ability, unspeakable acts, victor frankl, world war ii



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