No choice? “I have no choice,” if this occurs to you, throw it out of your head. Because there is always a choice. Let's imagine that someone - for example, your boss - orders you to do something with which you do not agree. Failure to comply with the order will lead to an inevitable scandal. To challenge an order is to run into troubles that you don’t need. It would seem a hopeless situation. What do you do in such a situation? Do you obey and do what you are told? What are you forced to do? Do you endure and resign yourself to circumstances that you cannot change? And why? Why did you decide that you need to humble yourself and endure? You always have a choice. If you can't influence the situation, get out of it. Say goodbye to your unloved boss and forget all the accompanying troubles! Agree, you don’t do this not because you can’t, but because you don’t want to. You have the opportunity to change your life, but you don’t have the desire. You prefer to endure troubles for the sake of what you have and are afraid of losing, or because of the fear of troubles that may happen. In other words: you choose the lesser of two evils. But you choose! This is what we are talking about: there are no hopeless situations, there are unpleasant solutions. I need it and I want it. I admit that for some, the choice between two evils is tantamount to the absence of choice. Then the realization that choice is available, but not acceptable, is of little comfort. The irresistible “must” with iron necessity subjugates every “want”. Where “should” dictates actions, you can forget about freedom of desires. And yet, freedom is not a speculative concept, but a real force. In a situation where you are not free to choose your actions, you remain free to choose your motives. The tram does not run - there is an accident on the line, you will have to walk. Are you upset? In vain. A good opportunity to finally go hiking. We’ve been planning for a long time. I don’t want to get up in the morning and go to work, but do I have to? Must is not a motive. Remember the story about laborers at a construction site. One is pushing a damn wheelbarrow full of stones because he has to feed his family. The second is because he wants to grow from an apprentice to a master. And the third one just wants to build a Temple. What are you working for? Do you remember? Did you remember about the loan that you want to repay by the end of this year? This is already some kind of motive. Or maybe because you know that no one can do your job better than you? Or because it is important for you to see respect in the eyes of your colleagues? Not “I would like to, but I have to,” but “I want to, so I have to.” - Doctor, will I live? - What’s the point?.. What is the power of inner freedom? If you are free to choose the motives for which you are forced to perform an action that is unpleasant for you, then no external circumstances will drive you into a corner. You always have the opportunity to explain to yourself why you do what you don’t want to do. It is human nature to avoid meaningless actions. On the contrary, understanding the meaning of what is happening gives additional strength to overcome external barriers. It is not a question of “to be or not to be.” Why is the question.