That is to say – this context stares us directly in the face but we are unable to recognize it because we are looking at it from the outside in, as opposed to from the inside out.

It would be like looking at yourself in a mirror and assuming that this – the reflection – is who or what you are, as opposed to realizing that you are much more than that, and that your true substance lies within you and is waiting to be discovered by you.

That is what I mean when I say that man is condemned to be free. Condemned, because he did not create himself, yet is nevertheless at liberty, and from the moment that he is thrown into this world he is responsible for everything that he does. (Existentialism is a Humanism, by Jean-Paul Sartre, 1945)

You might want to question Sartre’s use of the word “condemned” here – because of its strong negative intent, as well as the sense of melodrama that it would seem to convey. But, presumably,  that is exactly what he had in mind.

Instead,  he might have said that –  contrary to all other creatures on earth that do not have a choice in the matter –  we have been given the freedom to determine our own destiny.

And surely, that has to be a preferable state of being in spite of the daunting challenge that this presents us with. This would include not being paralyzed  by the weight of the obligations that follows from this predicament;  something we can run – but not hide from.

Directly or indirectly, we will be confronted by this challenge at every decision we make on behalf of ourselves, and – by extension – on behalf of anyone else in this world.