Dealing with Life
Just thought I would share . . . and I hope you will think about it.
It’s been said, “The situations that happen in your life make you who you are today.”
To me, it is the choices you make on how you’re going to deal with the situations that happen in your life that make you who you are today. Whether you will prevail, whether you will succumb, whether you will learn, and whether you will become bitter is totally up to you.
You have a choice. Choose wisely.
When you are no longer here, how will you be remembered? Is it necessary to be remembered by throngs of people? Is it a sign of achievement if you are remembered by generations that follow? Or is the meaning of your existence perpetuated by how you treat others? Maybe they will not remember your name, but they will pass along the legacy of your selflessness or your love or your kindness.
The love of two people in a romance is a powerful, wonderful thing. Nevertheless, there is great power in the love of friends, family members, and even strangers. Each type of love has its own characteristics and meaningful results. And in our meetings with family, friends, lovers, and strangers, we never know how something simple may affect others. It could be a simple gesture, a few words, or a smile. Small things have had a lifelong affect on people throughout the centuries. So, how do you treat others? How do you interact with your fellow human beings? How does your soul or spirit touch another?
You have a choice. Choose wisely. Love deeply.
When bad things happen to people, many have said, “It’s God’s will.”
To me, it is not always God’s will. The one thing God gives us that is totally ours is our free will, our ability to choose and live by those choices—even if it means we do not acknowledge or love God. He did not want robots, so He grants us free will . . . and He respects His choice to let us have it and He respects our choices, even if He doesn’t like them.
I believe many bad things that happen to people are the result of others who make a bad choice. Personally, I don’t believe that it is God’s plan—His will—for some irresponsible person to drink too much and get behind the wheel of their vehicle and kill or mame others.
However, I do believe that God can create a lot of good out of any situation, if we seek to learn and grow from whatever happens. The immediate experience may seem insurmountable to you if you are the victim . . . but you can either choose to be bitter and forever angry, or you can go through the grieving process and choose to turn the situation around for good.
It’s perfectly natural as humans to go through a range of emotions, so you should be allowed to express hurt, self-pity, anger, rage, depression, or whatever—but don’t stay in any one place for very long, lest it consume you. The lesson is to not stay in the pit, but rather to move on. We can become whole if we press on to that which is in our highest good.
So, once again, you have a choice. Choose wisely.
As for me, I hope to make an impression on people before I leave this Earth . . . and I hope it’s an impression that will make a difference—a good one.
I may not always make the right choice. I may not always make the best choice. I am human. (Don’t look down on me or anyone else for being imperfect—you’re not perfect, either.) However, I choose to choose wisely.
I choose to learn from my mistakes and the situations in my life. I choose to pass on kindness and love and respect to my children, my friends, and people I just happen to meet for some brief moment in time. I choose to neither be something I’m not nor attempt to act “saintly” or unnatural. Instead, I choose to be myself and hopefully help others learn to deal with life—and be better for it.
Will you?