Viktor Frankl was a remarkable human being.
He was a leading psychotherapist before suffering the horrors of Nazi concentration camps. He alchemized those experiences into an even deeper understanding of human behavior that he shared in the form of the therapeutic approach he developed called Logotherapy.
Frankl captured the essence of that philosophy in his must-read book Man’s Search for Meaning.
Two interesting historical facts on that book before we get into today’s wisdom: Frankl wrote what became one of the world’s greatest books in nine successive days shortly after his liberation. And, he originally intended to publish the book anonymously—using only his prison number (Number 119104) rather than his name. He had no intention to make it a “bestseller” and only reluctantly agreed to put his name on it as he felt that was important to have the impact he desired.
← Both of those points are, in and of themselves, adequate wisdom for Today’s +1. But we will continue…
So…
One of the key ideas in his book (and philosophy) is the importance of recognizing our freedom to CHOOSE our response to any given situation.
As Frankl says: “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.”
Related to that wisdom is this: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
And, THAT is the focus of Today’s +1.
There’s a GAP between a stimulus and our response.
In THAT (!!!) space is our power to choose our optimal response.
In that response, lies our opportunity to grow and to step into the next-best version of ourselves.
Stimulus. Space. Response.
( ) — ( )
Today’s +1.
What “stimulus” is getting you triggered these days? What sub-optimal “response” needs some work? Step into the space between that stimulus and response. Step forward into your growth.
Moment to moment to moment.
+1. +1. +1.
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