“The ability to choose cannot be taken away or even given away – it can only be forgotten.” -Greg McKeown
My mind instantly goes into skeptic mode when I read this quote. I think of the millions of people who have suffered because of the choice of others. I think of the atrocities done to Jews during World War 2. They didn’t choose those situations. Their ability to choose was taken away so this quote must be wrong.
But that’s not the point that McKeown is trying to make.
You may not have chosen your current circumstances or situation, but you can still choose to do this one thing. And it’s this very thing that gave people the strength to overcome some of the worst crimes committed against mankind.
So what was it? What is this thing that helped people survive such awful situations as prison camps?
They understood that they still could choose how they responded to the situations. When we forget our ability to choose we become powerless. We become victims. Defeated in body and mind.
We can’t control our circumstances or what others do to us but we can control how we respond. I don’t know about you, but that gives me hope. Regardless of what I am going through, I get to choose how I face it.