Certain words have been hijacked into a particular world view and as a result have lost their meaning. “Spirituality” is a new-age word for something ephemeral. It used to mean the energy that holds everything physical together.”To enable” is to assist someone’s addiction. It used to describe helping someone access their abilities.
“Choice” is another one of these words.
Cognitive-behavioral therapists and coaches frequently make use of the word choice, but I’m not sure that it means the same to them as it means to a logotherapist.
The following quote by Viktor Frankl reflects the idea of choice in logotherapy. “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.”
Before talking about having “a” choice between two or more options, we need to recognize that we have the power of choice, a human strength that supersedes emotion, intellect and instinct.
Anything that comes from only one aspect of human functioning, even if it’s an aspect that we deem as extremely useful, such as our rational thinking, will necessarily be weak and ineffective. The mind is only one part of who we are. It cannot tell us all we need to know. It’s missing important input from the emotions. Feelings are only one part of who we are. They cannot tell us everything we need to know. They are missing important input from the intellect.
The power of consciousness is a meta-strength. Consciousness, or awareness pulls together all of one’s personal strengths so they are integrated and in sync.
Stimulus and response is a mechanism with no space, no allowance for freedom of movement in between. Stimulus, like emotions and like intellect, just is what it is and does what it does. It cannot choose otherwise.
Choice is a meta-helper of consciousness. A choice made with only intellect, emotion or instinct is not made with true choice. The “I” as a whole that is conscious of meaning, can make a meaningful choice.