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Dr. Edith Eva Eger: Why resiliency is a choice

Stout Takeaways from Oprah’s transformative Super Soul Sunday conversation with Dr. Edith Eva Eger on trauma, resiliency and triumph.

In a recent Super Soul Sunday, Oprah talks to Holocaust survivor, psychologist and author Dr. Edith Eva Eger about the transformational power of resiliency and her international bestselling book, The Choice: Embrace the Possible. Watch more of Dr. Edith Eva Eger’s SuperSoul Sunday interview with Oprah.

From Victim To Empowered

Dr. Eger, one of the last remaining Holocaust survivors, has spent a lifetime developing methods to treat those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

As a pioneer in the field of psychology, she teaches others about the transformative power of using pain as part of the healing process and guides patients from victimization to empowerment.

Its amazing how curiosity can help you.

At age 90 she shares her moving testament to resilience and the power of choice with us all in her first book The Choice: Embrace the Possible. Her mission: “To help others discover how to escape the concentration camp of your own mind and become the person you were meant to be-to find freedom.”

The Power To Choose

In her powerful conversation with Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Eger reminds us that “we’re born with love” and “learn to hate.” She believes “we all have it within us” to “find meaning in suffering and turn it into an opportunity to discover the power within you.” By being brave and facing pain, we can use it to release the hold it has on us, restoring power to choose. She says, “The more choices we have the less we are a hostage of the past.”

We agree with Oprah’s insightful note in their Super Soul Sunday interview that, “It’s impossible to read your story and not be forever changed from it.” Take inspiration from Dr Eger’s remarkable life and use our Stout Takeaways to help you make the choice to become more resilient today.

  Dr. Edith Eva Eger’s Lessons on Resilience  

• Accept Losses– By honoring the lesson or the relationship you’re able to take responsibility for any role might have had and open the door to process and heal.
• Acknowledge the Good in Yourself.– Eva’s teenage love’s sweet memories of her reminded her of who she was in the darkest of times.
• Perception is a Choice– you can choose to see yourself as a victim or empowered to succeed
• Kindness Matters– Literally starving in Auschwitz, Eva unselfishly shared bread she earned performing for a guard. Later, the same girls carried her on a death march and were the reason she survived it.
• Stay Curious– “It’s amazing how curiosity can help you.” Not knowing what to do when separated from her family, her teenage mind wondered what would happen next, keeping her open to possibilities.
• Learn from History– “The more choices we have the less we are a hostage of the past.” She uses the example of the current immigration situation, reminding us of the importance of learning from our past.

 

Want more?

Read more of internationally acclaimed psychologist Dr. Edith Eger—one of the last remaining Holocaust survivors—unforgettable story in her moving testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of choice in our lives in her book “THE CHOICE: Embrace the Possible”.

Watch all of Dr. Edith Eva Eger’s SuperSoul Sunday interview with Oprah and browse more Stout Magazine articles on resilience.

Photos courtesy of Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN)