The choice is ours

One of the most stirring books I have ever read is Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. A survivor of the horrendous tortures of the dreaded Nazi Auschwitz Camp, he makes frequent references to the words of the nineteenth century German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche – ‘He who has a ‘why’ to live for can bear almost any ‘how’.

Those who survived the Nazi Death Camp were the ones who could call upon a ‘why’, a purpose outside themselves, a meaning that went beyond their individual existence. It is one that recognizes the human ability and the responsibility in even the worst circumstances to choose. He avers that Man has the strength to make decisions that can overcome the most miserable conditions heaped on him.

In his words, ‘A life well-lived is a life filled with meaning, a life discovered even in the worst of conditions.’ Frankl holds that what we actually need is not a tensionless state, but rather a striving and a struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task.    

We scarcely realize what an important role choice plays in the course of our lives. Life is indeed a series of selections. The thoughts we have at any time are our own choices.

No one can enter our minds and make us think in a particular way and what we hold in our minds is certain to be reflected in the day’s activities.

Similarly, our feelings are our own. Whether a person is happy or depressed depends on how she or he looks at Life. Then is happiness a choice? Perhaps. Many happy people realise happiness is a choice and it’s up to them to intentionally choose it every single day.

Our burdens become lighter as soon as we face them with patience and determination. This is simple, home-grown truth, yet it is seldom recognised and put into practice. We can grow out of these fears if we introspect and reflect. We can learn that no painful burden that we bear has happened without our acceptance. As Abraham Lincoln puts it, we are all as happy as we want to be. Each of us has the power to be the person we want to be – to feel either pain or joy. The choice is entirely ours!