We have all heard the famous saying, "life is 10% of what happens and 90% of how you react to it."
In life, attitude is everything; it is what shapes our beliefs and our desires. “Bad things” will happen in all of our lives, but it is up to us how we interpret and react. We are always in control of our emotions despite any given situation.
Many people blame their circumstances, or others, for where they find themselves and as a result accept the reality of the situation. We believe an event is equivalent to its outcome; however, this is not true.
It is not what has happened in our lives, but the manner in which we react to the events that affects what we take away from it. The way a person decides to respond to certain occurrences is what will shape feelings, actions and results.
We can choose to live the life we want, no matter how tough it can get. It is all a matter of attitude. Only we will prevent ourselves from achieving greatness. The rest are just small detours before we reach our destinations.
Adversity is something that everyone faces at some point in their life. These difficult and trying times however are not what define us, but the way in which we react to them is what reveals our true character. Anyone can be defeated when life does not go as planned, but the strong are the people who can overcome such hardships.
Knowledge comes from everything we do and everything that happens to us. We learn valuable lessons over the course of our lives based on our experiences and the ways in which we react to them. Every hardship presents an opportunity, we just need to recognize that instead of letting it defeat us.
You have a choice when it comes to reactions and although in the moment, you want to react, get angry, sad, stressed, you need to actively remind yourself why that is so detrimental.
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” – Charles Swindoll
The only environment we have control of is our internal one. Each day we are presented with a variety of situations and it is up to us on the way we react.
You always have a choice of how you are going to respond to what the world offers you. Do not let something dictate the way you react to things. You need to look within yourself and realize that you have the power to make things happen. We are a sum of all of our life’s peries, so use these past lessons to help better your present situation.