“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.”
- Victor Frankl, in Man’s Search for Meaning
As a Holocaust survivor, Victor Frankl went through some of the most horrific experiences ever known to man. Yet, from within the depths of extreme and severe suffering, he developed insights that helped change the world for the better.
Stephen Covey used Frankl’s insight to develop Habit 1: Be Proactive in his hugely popular book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
More importantly, I think Frankl’s insight is also the building block of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), developed by Dr. Albert Ellis. REBT is a cornerstone of the ‘change from within’ towards serenity and fulfillment.
Here’s a brief clip of Victor Frankl, on the search for meaning, with students at a conference in Toronto:
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Man’s Search for Meaning was an immensely heavy, hard and moving book. Not a very fluent read as such, at many points, I had to devote a lot of effort, imagination and emotion to empathize with Frankl’s experiences.. but it was so so worth it.
btw, I am afraid i am mixing up some imageries with Maus (have you read it??)..
haven’t read Seven habits… and don’t know much abt REBT, but will read up if I can.
Gauri,
I am afraid I have neither read Man’s Search for Meaning nor Maus. I am amazed you have read these!
Have been thinking of reading Frankl’s book, was going to check out reviews, etc. so thanks for the heads up.
Learning about REBT, unfortunately, is much more entertaining, faster, and fulfilling through in-person workshops and group discussions than reading books about it. I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity for participating in such workshops in Pune.
P.S. I myself used to conduct a one-day workshop on Seven Habits.
read up both! and i will look out for any such workshop.. and why don’t you conduct a workshop now, i am sure people need to be pepped up off and on abt their habits
Already added them to my To-Read list (which, by the way, is long
.
Workshop now? Changing priorities, I guess. It was easier in a corporate setting when I worked a regular job.