Soul n Peace

We're all victimized by something--crime, discrimination, poverty, a handicap, a broken home, a lousy boss, flyaway hair. But the only real victim is the person who thinks like one.

Life is a self-service gas station. You can sit in your car and honk, or you can fill the tank yourself. No one honks longer, louder, or with less effect than a victim.

It's easy to think like a victim. For one thing, it feels good. It lets you off the hook. When you're not responsible for what happens to you, you can't be expected to do anything about it. When the cards are stacked against you, you have no choice but to fold, so you never have to face the pressure of playing to win. And you never lack for something to do. You can fill every idle moment with the bittersweet memories of your misfortunes. Unfortunately, you can never fulfill your dreams. 

When you think like a victim, you turn yourself from a cause into an effect. Nothing can kill a dream faster than that. When you blame the world, you lose your power to change it. In the name of what you can't fix, you sacrifice what you can.

It's not what happens to you that counts, it's what you choose to do about it. We are all victims of forces beyond our control. The people who get what they want from life are the ones who focus on forces they can control. They choose to live as a cause instead of as an effect.

If you want to become a cause in your own life, don't think like an effect. Instead of worrying about the cards you've been dealt, play them. Instead of asking, Why me? ask, What am I going to do about it? Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, refuse to settle for less than what you want. The world owes you only what you're willing to collect. The way to collect is to make your dreams come true.