Freedom of Will, a concept of Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy
A lot of times you hear about free will in religious circles. You also hear criticism of the concept of freedom of will from those who say we are never truly free of the human condition.
Viktor Frankl discovered, as a prisoner in a holocaust death camp, that we may not be able to choose our circumstances, but we can choose how we want to respond to what is happening to us.
This has a lot of meaning for me. Mental health problems have plagued me for a great number of years in my life. There were times when I thought that I had nothing meaningful to live for given the conditions of my mental health. What I came to realise is that each of us has a unique purpose and meaning to discover through our individual trials.
I remember feeling resigned to my fate. I remember thinking that I will survive and live but I won’t thrive. And I regret those years. They were bleak and devoid of hope. Slowly, I grew away from that mindset and now I do feel like I can choose how I want my life to be—despite my mental health trials.
Maybe this isn’t the life I wanted, or would have chosen, but it is the life I have. Instead of feeling shame about my suffering, I like how Frankl removes such shame. Each of us suffers, and in our suffering, we can be proud of suffering well. We can learn valuable lessons even if we do not suffer well. None of us are incapable of improving ourselves, even under the harshest of conditions.
At this stage of my life, I’m focused on living and suffering well until my natural end. While I’m not always excited about the future and I fear decline, I am trying very hard to control what I can control each day and live the best life I can.
Thank you for reading. I wish you a life of living well and freedom to choose how you will respond to circumstances beyond your control.
Reality Bytes 