The Choice: Embrace the Possible - Dr. Edith Eva Eger (?????)
Book 66
I was looking forward to this book when it came out earlier this year. And then Melinda Gates recommended it to Bill who wrote how he loved it. Naturally I bumped it up on my list and I’m glad I did. This is such an immensely powerful book. As a reader, I was completely immersed into the life of Edith, that little girl who was ripped apart from her family, who watch her parents and loved ones sent to their death by the wave of the finger by Dr. Josef Mengele, the infamous ‘Angel of Death’. This is a story of a survivor, someone who fought all possible odds to not let fate win. It is a truly inspirational story of how grit and determination can help us overcome anything. It is also very much grounded in reality and doesn’t romanticize pain or suffering. Dr. Eger who is now almost 90 talks about how the pain and suffering, the memories of war and Auschwitz have remained a very difficult problem for her throughout her life and how she faltered and fell so many times along the way. The difference was that she made THE CHOICE to stand up and try again.
This is a hard and painful book to read but absolutely recommended. You will be captured and devastated by the story of her early life but the key takeaways from this book come not from Edith but from Dr. Eger and how she battled adversity and won.
Here are some(ok many) of my favorite quotes from this masterpiece.
“Survivors don't have time to ask, "Why me?" For survivors, the only relevant question is, "What now?””
“There is no hierarchy of suffering. There's nothing that makes my pain worse or better than yours.”
“Time doesn't heal. It’s what you do with the time.”
“A good definition of being a victim is when you keep the focus outside yourself, when you look outside yourself for someone to blame for your present circumstances, or to determine your purpose, fate, or worth.”
“Perfectionism is the belief that something is broken - you. So you dress up your brokenness with degrees, achievements, accolades, pieces of paper, none of which can fix what you think you are fixing.”
“When we seek revenge, even non-violent revenge, we are revolving, not evolving.”
“You can live to avenge the past, or you can live to enrich the present.”
“I was victimized, but I am NOT a victim.”
“I don't want you to hear my story and say, "My own suffering is less significant." I want you to hear my story and say, "If she can do it, then so can I!”
p.s. The audiobook is incredible and recommended.
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