The sphere of human functioning is a battle field between the power of nature and the power of the spirit. Knowing this, what would you expect? You might picture yourself in a boxing ring, always vigilantly on guard and never knowing whether you will beat the other guy or be the one beaten.
Yet, here is where Frankl inserts his optimistic streak. For all practical purposes, “we must behave as if the sphere of destined compulsion did not infringe upon the field of free action.” (p. 82) That is, we act as if the playing field was not a level one, as if we can ignore the power of nature, and then we will succeed. People call this mind over matter.
If you’re 100% realistic, you’ll lose the game. Instead, if you decide to pay attention to your spiritual power and especially to the worthwhile goal that you’re setting your sights on, then you will muster all that power. What’s more, you’ll feel your strength and use it, and you won’t be dragged down by negative expectations.
We conceive of expectations in terms of results. But the optimist doesn’t say to himself, if I do “x,” “y” will happen. The optimist thinks in terms of what he expects of himself. The results are not up to him. What’s important is that he knows what he can do and does it.