In his book, Man's Search for Meaning, WW II Nazi labor camp survivor, Dr. Viktor Frankl, taught us the ultimate human freedom that cannot be taken from us. It is the power to choose how we respond to our circumstances. Our current circumstances aren't even close to the horrors of the Nazi camps, yet we are experiencing one of the most challenging times in our 240-plus years of history as a nation.
We are at an inflection point. As this nation decides what it will become, many of us will find that outcome to be a continuous disruption of our peace and contentment. So, how do we find wellbeing? Where do we look for the personal sanity we need to maintain balance in this age of chaos?
The sages throughout history have said, look inward. Inward to that authentic self, that when fully realized, expresses our personality. A gift given to us at birth, our species' biological structure has evolved to survive over the millennia. It gives us the conscious ability to bring order to the chaos that deluges us.
The first step to keeping order is to bring it to our inner SELF. This is the repository of all the uninvited unconscious historical biases from the lives of the people who preceded us. They've taken up residence in our unconscious mind.
The prerequisite step to critical thinking is to uncover those biases. They are what automatically affects our first conscious response to everything we think and do.
The challenge is clear. Learn to manage these automatic responses and release your intellectual capacity to think for yourself or settle for being forever manipulated by the whims and fancies of other people.
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"If you choose to read this book, you take the red pill because it is about critical thinking. And critical thinking, while uncomfortable, unnatural, and inconvenient, will awaken you to your own safe and sane place to stand"
I really enjoyed examples from your personal story and that you're being honest about your problems and issues in your life. That made me want to read more because you're being honest about those problems. So, I trusted the rest of book to be honest.
I had to slow down and take my time reading, as it was filled with knowledge and facts. I know this is a book that I will read and re-read as I have already done on a couple chapters.
A quote that I particularly liked is "Look to science to tell us what facts are right or wrong. Look to religion to tell us what actions are good or evil."
- A. J. B.
Robert DeFilippis began writing when he left an executive business career at forty. After a stint in graduate school, he began management consulting with a focus on the applied behavioral sciences. His current career as a writer includes authoring eight books and over 1000 newspaper, blog, and website Op/Ed columns.
