“The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.”
— Viktor Frankl
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Viktor Frankl knows what he’s talking about when he talks about the last of our freedoms.
He, after all, survived years in a Nazi concentration camp and saw first hand – within himself and in his companions and guards – this crucial fact:
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
There is always a gap, he said, between what happens to us and how we react and/or respond to what happens to us.
It is in this gap that we find freedom.
And what is sweeter than freedom? What do we all want, when it all boils down, but freedom?
This is not easy!
It's certainly easy for me to say, easy for us to want, but it's much more difficult to actually possess.
That doesn't make it not worth pursuing – on the contrary, it makes it more worthwhile.
It's why I'm here doing this, it's why I became a monk – because I wanted more freedom.
I saw how crippled I could be by one person's judgement or one thing going wrong in my life. I saw how embarrassed I was when I reacted poorly, how much I regretted doing or saying or not doing or not saying something.
I wanted more independence, more freedom to choose how I responded to life, and so I got going in being more free.
And if I can get a small way along this road, you can go much farther.
How?
The key, of course, is awareness and mindfulness …
To see which reactions or responses come from when life lifes us, as it does.
Which are automatic, triggered? And which are chosen by us, freely, consciously, mindfully?
Where are you being like a monkey on a chain, pulled this way and that by life, and where are you intentionally deciding how and what you do, say, and let fill your mind?
The art of living well comes from practicing this aware mindful choice. In claiming your choice, you gain freedom.
So –
Practice.
It takes time to build awareness and the ability to choose. If you want to get good at life this is THE skill – but I think one that people don’t value enough to habitually and consistently practice.
If you care about making a difference in your life and to your people, you gotta get going on this.
It’s why I bang on about slowing down and stepping back – because when you’re hasty and too involved there is no gap, there is no bigger picture.
It’s why I often find myself teaching about recovery and energy – because when you’re stressed and exhausted, just about everything is a blind reaction that you later regret.
It’s why I talk a lot about appreciation, gratitude, love and compassion – all cornerstones of the practice of Ascension – because what you focus on grows. When the Good grows in your active attention, you’re able to respond with more Good awareness rather than with blind limitation and negativity.
So practice!
Be intentional, be mindful. Most importantly, sit down and create space and awareness. Reset to the present moment. Meditate. Better still, learn Ascension.
It makes your meditation practice incredibly enjoyable and powerful.
Next course is 31 March - 2 April (starts 7pm Friday). I’d love to have you along. Just ask, or check the PS for more details.
Whatever you do, prioritise being more mindfully aware and make different choices.
Go well!
Arjuna
PS.
If you’d like to join us, the next Ascension meditation course is 31 March - 2 April (starts 7pm Friday).
More details here – https://www.arjunaishaya.com/ishayasascension, or just ask.
The last course sold out so if you’re interested, get in touch.
No matter how good that app is, there’s nothing in the world like face to face instruction; nor are the best inner tools and technologies taught without individual guidance.
It’s a grand weekend, and it would be lovely to have you.
PPS.
And of course, if you’re not ready for that yet, my free mini-course in meditation and mindfulness and coaching group, The 200% Dojo, is here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/708920116904793