“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.”

Viktor E. Frankl

Even in the most horrible of circumstances human beings have a choice and with choice comes the power to control a situation even when everything seems out of your control you can choose your own attitude and thereby establish meaning in every situation even when things seem hopeless and full of despair.

We must accept the fact that the situation we are currently in, is a result of the Choices we have made in the past. Some choices were made by our super-conscious self.

What I mean is the choice of getting deposited in the egg of your mother’s womb, choice of being born to her, choice of feeding of her, up until we gained our so called consciousness driven by the language and then using it to process our experiences which then drove the choices we made.

You might wonder why I say, that the choice of being born was made by your super-conscious self. It will be clear to you when you realize that your mother also didn’t have a choice in choosing which amongst the million sperm cells would finally get to this world.

The real problem for you started when you stopped making choices by yourself and were only living the life based on the choices others made for you in your childhood.

You are conditioned , to look for acceptance from others for every choice you intended to make. The root cause for this according to me could be our parents. Though, well-meaning and well-intended, the impact on an individual’s life has been very crippling and anti-growth.

They chose what you should eat, the way you should dress, the friends you should have, the school, the college and even sometime your life partner. So much so that, today for every move you want to make, you look for approval and wonder, what would be the reaction of people around you for the choices you make.

We keep asking for approval from others. Just think, how on earth will others be able to comprehend fully your current situation and state of mind. Their response will always be based on their own perception of the situation. They will never be able to get into your mind and be able to think what is good for you. This is only possible by you.

When you ask for approval from others for the choices you intend to make, you limit yourself, stunt your growth possibilities. I know, this is not something new, but have you ever wondered why we are afraid to make our own choices?

Maybe, each time we made a choice, we were punished. Maybe making choices have for us more negative experiences attached to them than positive. So, the aversion. Maybe, when, we made choices and it failed, we were ridiculed. Maybe, we don’t like being held accountable for our situation. Maybe, we are afraid of failure. Just maybe!

As Viktor Frankl said, the freedom to choose is the last of the human freedoms that cannot be taken away. In fact even as infants we exercised that power. You might have observed, even a baby chooses when to eat and not to eat. No amount of coaxing, cajoling and bribes can work.

Therefore no matter what happens, never stop from making your choices. It is the most important of your freedom which you can exercise for achieving personal success and growth.

Choices which are not yearning for others approval. For which you will be fully accountable to yourself. Remember, you were the one who chose to come into this world. The onus is now on you to choose and make it what you want it to be.

Choice – one freedom, which cannot ever be taken away from you!