Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis opened more than 40,000 concentration camps across Europe. Millions of people were stripped of their rights, forced into labor, and dehumanized; one of those people was a psychiatrist named Viktor Frankl.
His parents, brother, and wife were killed inside the camps; he nearly lost his entire family. Each morning, he woke up with less faith in humanity.
One day, he became aware of what he called, “the last of human freedoms.”
While everything was taken from him, there was one thing they could not take: the freedom of choice. He still had the ability to decide how his circumstances would affect him. This one power gave him the strength to survive the war and go on to publish 39 books and receive 29 honorary doctoral degrees.
Each time something happens, there is moment between the action happening and your reaction. Inside this space, each person has the ability to choose their way forward.
It doesn’t matter what the situation is; you always control the space. Sometimes the space feels small, sometimes, it feels non-existent, but it’s always there. If Dr. Frankl was able to recognize the space despite his extreme, despondent circumstances, it can always be found. Recognizing the power to control the reaction is stronger than any comic book characters’ supposed gift.
It’s not what happens to us, but how we respond that determines our reality.
