The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas

An excellent film worth going to see at the moment is 'The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas. bases on the book of the same name and set during World War II, it is a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.

Here is the trailer.

I would also like to recommend a truly exceptional book, 'Man's Search For Meaning' by Victor Frankl. The book written in 1946, chronicles Frankl's experiences as a concentration camp inmate and describes his psychotherapeutic method of finding a reason to live.

Here are some quotes.

"We 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 a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

"Nietzsche's words, 'He who has a why to live or of a for can bear with almost any how."

"When we are no longer able to change a situation—just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer—we are challenged to change ourselves"

"Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him - mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp."

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual."

"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."

Make it a great week, it's your choice

My best

Séamus