“You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.” — Mary Tyler Moore
We are the creating force in our lives. We are not victims of circumstance. But it is easy for us to align ourselves with the victim mentality, and in doing so…we give up our power. Unpleasant things happen. Life is a balance of positive and negative – it’s as simple as that. Things happen, but they don’t happen to us. Unless we personalize them.
Consider this – a Nazi prison camp survivor, interviewed by Stephen Covey, told this story: Initially he thought to himself, “Why must I suffer like this?” While his treatment only got worse, he was able to shift his thinking and question “What is life asking of me?” When he thought he was suffering, he’d find someone experiencing greater suffering, and he’d share his meager rations with the person.
Setbacks are a call to action. Some call it making lemonade out of lemons. I think that when we accept our circumstances, and recognize that they are our circumstances for just this moment, we become empowered. We have free choice to deal or not deal, any way that we choose. Circumstances may be beyond our control, but our actions are completely within our control.
Tags: call to action, creative force, empowered, empowerment, setbacks, take control of your life, victim mentality, victim mindset
