the power of attitude

I started off the year listening to Viktor Frankl’s short essay collection, Yes, to Life. It caught my attention because I’ve been following the alarming trajectory of Alexei Navalny’s life. How does one stay positive in spite of horrendous circumstances? 

As a Holocaust survivor, Frankl knew that attitude is the one thing that cannot be taken from a person who’s lost health, freedom, dignity and family. 

In this book, Frankl posits crisis as offering opportunity. The Chinese word for crisis includes the word opportunity. 

Like Eve in that metaphorical Paradise, we always have a choice.  I need to remind myself, again and again, that it’s not strength that creates power … it’s courage. 

I also appreciated Frankl's thoughts on collective guilt. Like Thomas Mann, in his 1945 BBC radio broadcast,  Frankl says that we are liable for collective actions of a society even if we were not personally responsible. 

CC by Dmitry Aleshkovskiy 

Alexei Navalny, Viktor Frankl and countless unseen, untold people continue to generate hope throughout our messed-up world.  May our own acts of courage empower Alexei Navalny, as he continues to Say Yes to Life.