Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. – Viktor Frankl from Man’s Search for Meaning
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In the above quote, Viktor Frankl refers to his personal experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Think about that…
If there has ever been a human experience that could lead to absolute despair, the Holocaust was one, right? And yet, Mr. Frankl recognized that those who surrendered to hopelessness died shortly thereafter, while those who refused to allow their circumstances to define their perspective survived to tell the tale…
Cheerful Christmas offering, eh? ?
Well… Yes!
This is an empowering place to be. I want us all to recognize this Holiday Season that this is a gift we get to open within ourselves: the gift of choice.
The Holidays can be a time of Joy and sometimes they can be a time of feelings of loss. They can be a time and an opportunity to connect to family and friends, to share Love, and create memories, and they can be a time when we feel disconnected from those that we love. And sometimes, it can all be true all at once… which is what makes the holidays such an emotional time for everyone.
Here’s the important bit…
We get to choose where we will allow our minds, and our hearts to go. We get to recognize that we’re feeling love or sadness, connection or isolation, and we get to decide if we want to stay in any of those places. And then, we get to take action to move ourselves from one place to another. We can make a phone call, visit with some friends, volunteer some time to bring Joy to other human beings, to take action to create “meaning” in, and for, our lives… Just as Viktor Frankl must have faced those feelings of hopelessness and chosen another path, we get to be aware of the emotional choices we make every day and decide upon what we will allow our minds to focus.
As you finish up your holiday shopping with the crowds, and while you travel to visit family & friends, how do you choose meet the world? I’m choosing, moment to moment, to see the gifts of Beauty and the Love in the world as often as I can, and to be in Gratitude for all of it.
Thank you, my beautiful family & friends! Thank you to all my lovely readers! Thank you Earth! (I’m starting to feel like Tiny Tim right now… 😉 )
“God bless us, every one…”
Always infinite possibilities… always your choice.
Music Credit: The Roches, “Silver Bells”, 1990
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