“We who lived in 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.” – Victor Frankl
I live in a “free” country. I have certain “rights,” described as unalienable in my country’s Declaration of Independence. I and my fellow Americans are free to choose most of our own circumstances and we are not alone in the world in possessing this most important right. Certainly almost anyone reading this post also possesses that right.
It allows us to make choices about where we live, where we work, how we spend our free time, and our money.
Most of us have always had that right, we’ve known nothing but freedom our entire lives. As a result, we tend to take our freedom for granted, even that last of the human freedoms that Victor Frankl spoke about.
In fact, that “last” of the human freedoms is often the very first one we give up. We let other people, other things, and events beyond our control have a negative effect on our attitude. We don’t even stop for a moment to realize that our attitude is a choice, it’s our choice. It’s a choice we have the opportunity to make many times a day and sadly, we don’t make it.
We actually don’t even have to be free to make that choice, no matter our circumstances we still have that choice. We have that choice right up to our final breath.
So, are you free enough do decide for yourself what your attitude will be? You are if you decide you are.
Don’t give up that freedom, choose positive. Virtually everything you say and do is easier when you decide to do it with a positive attitude. Virtually everything you say and do will be better when you do it with a positive attitude.
Virtually everything in your life changes for the better when you decide to exercise your freedom and maintain control over your own attitude.
If you really want to be free I’d suggest that you start right there.
If you’re like me, if you’re human, if you have a pulse, then you make lots of decisions everyday. Most of them are tiny decisions, made with barely a conscious thought. Brand of gum to chew, water with lemon or lime, which color of socks should I wear today. Those are easy (I hope) decisions and they have little or no lasting impact on your future.