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Inspiration October 23, 2020
Edith Eger gifts us a new gem with her book, "The Choice."
Edith Eger released her first book at the age of 90 and became a widely acclaimed New York Times Best-Seller.
Her admirers’ list includes luminaries from diverse literary backgrounds: Oprah, Bill Gates, Sheryl Sandberg, Desmond Tutu, Jeannette Walls, and Marie Forleo, among many others.
Just three years after releasing her first book, Edith Eger shows us that she’s alive, well, and extremely active in her field by publishing yet another fantastic piece, “The Gift: 12 Lessons to Save Your Life.”
These are our 10 favorite quotes from her book to bring you some inspiration. But first, here’s some background on Dr. Edith Eger so you know who you’re learning from.
Edith Eger is a Holocaust survivor who went on to become an internationally-acclaimed psychologist.
She’s originally from Hungary, but she was a teenager, she was sent with her family to Auschwitz. Eger lost her parents, Helen and Liosha, in the camp, but her two sisters, Magda and Klara, survived with her.
In her first book, “The Choice,” she talks about her journey from being a happy, trained, ballet dancer and gymnast to barely surviving the Nazi concentration camp.
The book highlights her different phases of healing and how she chose to forgive her captors so that she can come to terms with what happened and be free. Most importantly, she writes about how this mindset can be applied to anyone, regardless of their circumstances.
Dr. Eger’s determination allows her to thrive professionally and personally. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology in 1978 while raising a family. Eger has two daughters, Marianne and Audrey, and a son named John. Their father, and Eger’s husband, Albert Bela Eger, passed away in 1993.
Despite all her challenges, you will find her on social media having a good time, dancing, and attending events with her current partner, Eugene Cook.
In “The Choice,” Edith unveils her journey from imprisonment to true freedom. In her second book, “The Gift,” she expands the concept, dividing her book into twelve themes: victimhood, avoidance, self-neglect, secrets, guilt and shame, unresolved grief, rigidity, resentment, paralyzing fear, judgment, hopelessness, and being unforgiving.
At the end of each chapter, she provides prompts and exercises, making her book a practical guide to healing. She also includes stories from her family and her patients that illustrate how these tools can be applied to any situation, despite the terrible and traumatic experience they went through.
1. “It is a universal experience for life not to turn as we want or expect.”
2. “When we say ‘I can’t’ what we’re really saying is ‘I won’t.’”
3. “Hope isn’t a distraction from darkness. It’s a confrontation with darkness.”
4. “Hope is the boldest act of imagination I know.”
5. “Conflict is human. When we avoid conflict we’re actually moving closer to tyranny than to peace.”
6. “You can’t heal what you don’t feel.”
7. “The opposite of depression is expression. What comes out of you doesn’t make you sick; what stays in there does.”
8. “I’m all for positive thinking, but it goes nowhere unless it’s followed by positive action.”
9. “It helps when we can meet others as they are, not as we expect them to be”
10. “I’m very selective about who’s going to get my anger, because when I’m angry, I’m the one who suffers.”
Healing from traumatic experiences can be challenging. Edith Eger is proof of this. However, even though you can’t control what happened to you, you have the choice to respond in your best interest.
We can use the gift of self-awareness as we dare ourselves to step away from victimhood.
Ask yourself: “is thinking/acting/talking like this good for me?”
As you evolve in your path, you will need reminders to keep you on the right track. That’s why we selected these quotes: so you can find the inspiration you need to move forward. Print this list, write it on post-its, spread these quotes everywhere. Your path towards healing can start and evolve with these words from Edith Eger.
