“We who lived in the concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.“ – Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search For Meaning
The Nazi’s controlled everything from those in concentration camps – when they ate, if they ate, what they ate, where they slept, what they worked on, if they lived or died – everything….except for one thing – how they reacted.
Our greatest freedom is to choose how we react to any situation. While life can be relentless with job loss, sickness, unexpected expenses, and unpredictable events – how we react is always in our control.
We often don’t realize this because our emotions are quick to rule how we react. It’s instinctive to react to something based on emotion, but rarely wise.
Instead, if we can develop the discernment of knowing what is in our control and outside of our control, we become masters of ourselves. We can influence, but not control what happens to us and we can always control how we react to any given situation. And once we know this, we react differently.
This is also the real test of failure – how we react. When we produce something that fails, we can complain and blame others or accept it and strive to make better work.
Success or more often failure – we always control how we react.
Connect with me on Twitter: @BenNesvig
So true!