“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
Humans are freakish creatures, aren’t they?
Think about it. We’re smart enough to argue over completely made up concepts and ideas. No other animal discusses politics or religion because they literally can not comprehend those ideas. Humans, however, do that all the time. Every minute of every day, someone is thinking about religion or politics. That’s something to be proud of. We’re smart.
That being said, our intelligence often turns on us. Many people suffer from anxiety, depression, P.T.S.D., social anxiety, lack of discipline, stubbornness, poor time management, and everything in between. The human mind is vast and expansive, which leaves a lot of room for error.
However. There is one thing that we always have complete control over, whether we like it or not. That one thing is, as Frankl puts it, human freedom. In other words, we can always choose how we feel about something, and we can always choose to think differently about something. Nothing can take that from us.
One example that is, unfortunately, common can be found in people who had overly strict parents. Maybe they were yelled at every time they did something even slightly wrong. Maybe they were never trusted by their parents, but were told otherwise. Of course, these people then struggle to know what true safety and trust look like. That’s a topic of discussion for another time, but what matters in this case is that in some cases, the child will eventually rebel against the parent. The child will ignore the parents’ screaming and yelling, and begin to do things on their own. This is the last of human freedoms shining out of that child — they’re taking control over their own thoughts and emotions. As sad as it is that this happens so often, it’s an inspiring thought. People of any age have the ability to break out of the mental chains that others have placed on them. This includes you, with any emotional chains. I wish you the best of luck.
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What do you think? What are your mental chains, and what holds you back? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section. Also feel free to leave a like and share this on your social media, there’s almost definitely somebody you know who could use this information!
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Check out my blog post titled “Feed Your Fire” for information on how to win a free month of coaching, valued at 1,000$
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Stay tuned for future blog posts every Monday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, and try to be the reason someone smiles today 🙂