It’s not what happens to you but how you react to it that matters.
It’s been a while since I came here. Strangely amid the crazy schedule these few days, I got this casual unproductive proscrinating feel to be here and to write something.
You’re having a family breakfast. Your daughter has accidentally spilt your coffee on your shirt. You jump up and shout at her, then shout at your wife for putting the cup too close to the edge of the table. You rush to the bedroom to change, but when you come back, you see your crying daughter has neither finished her breakfast nor packed up ready for school. As a result, she misses her school bus. Your wife hurries to work, and you take your daughter to school in your car. You’re running late, so you’re driving recklessly. You’re still late, and to top it off you find you’ve forgotten important papers at home. The beginning of your day was awful, and it’s continuing in the same way. You can’t wait for it to end. Coming home, you greet your wife and daughter. They’re both moody, and there’s tension between you.
I read this story many years ago, and it has been a story I can never forget. The truth is it is something that becomes more and more relevant to me each day, and something I find myself subconsciously practising. You will typically find 2 quotes pretty much of the same meaning relating to this, one is the sentence I open with, and the other is this. “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”
They both pretty much have the same meaning. What’s really interesting is I learnt of this in a totally different context recently, relating between Fate and Destiny.
“Fate is when the girl of your dreams walks into the room. Destiny is if you decide to approach her or not.”
I guess I have been overwhelmed with work lately, and the stress of all the upcoming things in life. Sometimes, it’s really easy to tell yourself to be lazy and that things will eventually work it out itself. We all know that life just doesn’t work this way.
January of 2019 is almost coming to an end. 2019 is indeed going to be an exciting year. The best is yet to be.