Suffering Is A Choice
“… and so is letting it go.”
Viktor Frankl was a neurologist, psychiatrist, and author of Man’s Search for Meaning, widely regarded as one of the most influential books of our time. Frankl was also a Holocaust survivor, where he was subjected to horrific crimes, including torture, starvation, and the expectancy of hourly extermination. During this time, he lost everything, including his entire family who perished in the camps.
Nelson Mandela suffered a similar fate. Wrongly imprisoned in 1962, he was sent to Robben Island, a former leper colony, where the warder's first words were: “This is the Island. This is where you will die.” Mandela spent most of his 27-year prison sentence here, where he was made to work under torturous conditions. His only refuge, a cell measuring 8 x 7 feet, had nothing but a bucket and a straw bed.
Despite his ill-treatment, Mandela did not allow outside events to control his behaviour. Instead, he used reflective thinking, contemplation, and meditation to sharpen his mind. According to his Lawyer, George Bizo, no matter what was thrown at him, he even kept his cool and wit.
Frankl used similar tactics to survive the abject misery of four concentration camps. Rather than feeling trapped, and reacting to his external environment, he continued to exercise the most important freedom of…
