Learn From Hatred But Choose Not to Be A Victim
Choose your attitude. Choose your way.
‘He who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from man, but one thing, the last of human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way’. Viktor E. Frankl
Take heart from Eddie Jaku — an Auschwitz survivor
Some time ago, I watched Eddie Jaku being interviewed on television. I was struck by his optimism and determination to make his life meaningful, to place his mark on society and, and leave the world a better place for his being there.
You see, Eddie shouldn’t be here, but he is. And he has a message to each and every one of us.
Eddie is a survivor of Auschwitz, still alive despite the tattoo on his arm, an Auschwitz marking that should have been his death sentence, he has elected to choose his own pathway.
He’s close to one hundred, yet takes time to talk to students in Sydney about all we can learn from Auschwitz where so many people died. He refers to Auschwitz as ‘the most tragic time in the history of mankind’, a time when he lost his whole family to the gas chambers.
Eddie, his memory of the atrocities crystal clear, looks fervently at his young audience and tells them that we must never allow this to happen to anyone ever again.
He has a captive audience!
His reason for speaking out?
Because of the six million people who can’t, those who died unspeakably, in Auschwitz, and those left behind, their memories forever scarred and irreparable.
He speaks of how easily intolerance and hatred can escalate to barbarity.
Yet Eddie is no victim. Instead he proclaims himself the happiest man on earth, clearly demonstrating his appreciation of the space between stimulus and response, for, ‘In that space there is our power to choose our response. In our response, lies our growth and our freedom.’ Viktor Frankl
Most of the Nazi soldiers are long gone, and who knows how their final hours might have been for them? But we who are still here can learn from their actions and make better choices in our lives.
‘Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.’ Bertrand Russell
However, genuine acts of kindness can change our world in ways we might never imagine.
Right now I am thinking about a surgeon who, when asked about his fees, realized the couple before him was concerned about affordability. He quickly eased their pain by asking, ‘What can you afford?” and before the patient had time to respond he said, ‘Don’t worry. I will waive my fee. I know you will help someone else in your own way.”
That patient did! He’s a close friend, and that one gesture of generosity sparked a flame in him. After recovering from surgery, he volunteered his IT skills for a group of retirees, and continues to do so.
And isn’t that the beginning of the bomb of kindness I wrote about here! Love starts in the smallest of ways. A trickle can quickly become a tsunami. Imagine how that would change our world!
I am constantly inspired by writers who eloquently write about love.
The following quotes I’ve chosen from people whose aims are to inspire us all to become better people, to face difficult situations and respond in ways that will make the world a kinder place.
- ‘Every time we choose courage we make everyone around us a little better, and the world a little braver. And our world could stand to be a little braver.’ Brené Brown
2. “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” — Dalai Lama
3. ‘Kindness is choosing love, over hate, light, over darkness, compassion over judgement.’ RAKtivist
4. “A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.” — Amelia Earhart
5. ‘Integrity is choosing courage over comfort, choosing what is right over having fun, fast, or easy; and choosing to practice our values rather than professing them.’ Brené Brown
6. ‘I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.’ Martin Luther King
Let’s see if we can all be part of the dream…of the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood becoming a reality. It’s one way, probably the only way, that Martin Luther King’s wishes can come true.
I’ll leave you with a piece of writing that was etched in the wall of a prisoner’s cell in Auschwitz.
‘I believe in the sun, even when it’s not shining.
‘I believe in love, even when I don’t feel it.
‘I believe in God, even when HE is silent.’
I challenge you to go to Auschwitz, read those same words, be moved by them, and use your attitude toward making this world a better place.
Just imagine this. “If everyone decided to forgive at least one person who hurt them by the end of the year, the world would be filled with people exchanging hugs and kisses, instead of words and bullets.”Matshona Dhliwayo
