I'm currently reading a book entitled, "Fuel to Success." by Wes Beavis. I would just like to share some points. Success in any endeavor is not determined solely by circumstances nor external motivations because if so man is merely a lower reactive animal played by the strings of chance. Being an Ennneagram Type 5 personality who heavily uses logic and a Myers Briggs INTJ type who has an objective worldview, I agree that people don't need to be determined by the volatility of circumstances.
As Stephen Covey said it best in his book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” on the habit of proactive, "We should focus on the things we can influence, our circle of influence. We gain a greater sense of freedom and in time our circle of influence increases to influence the things we can't influence before." How amazing it is to know that there is no such thing as chance, luck or destiny but only the creation of it. People who constantly complain about everything and give excuses ranging from lack of opportunity to poverty find it hard to understand such self deterministic perspective. On the other, people who are aware of the power they have within are the ones progressing in life. But regardless of being a reactive or proactive person, millions of sociological, psychological and philosophical research and cases can attest that, indeed, there is that something in man that makes him above the lower animals which equips him the competency to decide his destiny and achieve everything that life has to offer. Between stimulus and response is the ability of man to choose his response.
The points is, you may be facing a crisis right now, a set of endless deadlines to meet or simply a sense of dryness in life but all of these combined is nothing compared to your supremacy to chart your journey in life. Yes, a lot of factors in our environment can influence us, even the most proactive can be affected, but all of these don’t need to determine us. We can choose. You are given the freedom to choose how you can respond to life. You can either choose to be controlled by the things happening, feel like a loser and die with the music still playing in you or rise up to the daily challenges and pains of life, influence what you can and let go of the things you can’t, and live a fulfilling life that will inevitably make this world a little better before you leave it. Because in the final analysis, the Almighty has given each and one of us decisions that we need to make: to be mindless animals or an image of God, to be acted upon or to act and, finally, to die or to live for ourselves, the ones we love and for Him. Between stimulus and response is our power to choose. I have done my job of laying the facts to you. Now, choose. And in choosing, choose wisely.
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