A fact my knees (and feet, back, arms…) are grateful for.
I love to dissect aspects of the game of baseball. The pitchers, hitters, stats, ball fields, match-ups, etc. To give you an idea of how eaten up I am with baseball, the other day I heard an announcer on the radio mention a particular team and my mind immediately pulled up the following information:
- the city in which they play
- the name of their stadium
- their best starting pitcher
- the name of their manager
- their infield
- where they hold spring training
- their chances for 2013… zilch
I am, for better or worse, just as big a student of the game of life. A philosopher without the degree, prestige, and title. I believe that’s one of the reasons I was drawn to writing in the first place. It provides a release for all the thoughts, analogies, and conclusions my mind creates. If they all stayed inside my brain, there wouldn’t be any room for anything else.
One of the thoughts bouncing around recently was this: There are two kinds of people in the world. There are the kind who say, “Look at everything I’ve BEEN through!” and there are those who say, “Look at what I SURVIVED!”
This occurred to me when I heard a woman ranting about 2012. She literally said the words, “God PUT me through….” and as the words came out of her mouth, I thought, “You’re looking at it all wrong. Say, God BROUGHT me through…”
Sometimes just one word makes all the difference.
Our thoughts, attitude, and even our words create the story of our lives. We’re the author of our life’s novel and, personally, I’ve always wondered why anyone would want to portray themselves as the victim. Isn’t it much cooler to be the hero?
Words and thoughts like the following cast yourself in the victim’s role:
- I’ve been through so much…
- I have too much on my plate…
- God put me through…
- Someone hurt my feelings…
- Someone broke my heart…
- This is more than I can handle…
Not only do they make you the victim, the words themselves scream, “I’m weak!”
Words and thoughts like the following cast yourself in the role of the hero/heroine:
- I’ve overcome so much…
- My trials have made me strong…
- I’m actually thankful for the weight I’ve carried because they built muscle and character…
- God has brought me through a lot of tough times…
- This made me stronger…
- I can handle that…
- Hey, Life… bring it!
I’m reminded of one of my daughters, Brittany, when she was around 7 or 8. She was in the yard playing with her sisters and a couple of their friends. I was working in one of my flower beds and, like all over-protective mothers, I had two eyes on my kids and two eyes on the flowers. Only mothers are equipped with these magical extra eyes.
Brittany – who has always known one speed, TOP speed – fell while running. Smack right on the patio. Before I could even get up to see about her, she was back on her feet and running. She shot me a look that said, “THAT never happened.” I stayed put and went with her version of the story.
Basically, she fell and – in one motion – got back up again. I guess it’s odd that this scene from life has stuck with me all these years but I just thought it was cool. Make no mistake about it, the fall hurt. Both knees were scrapped and one hand was scuffed up. However, acknowledging the fall would have meant that, unlike the other girls, she slipped.
“THAT never happened.”
If there’d been such a thing as “Pictures with Captions” back then, I’d have labeled her reaction, “Patio…. you hit like a girl!”
The next time you find yourself heaving deep sighs or rolling in complaints – and long before you pick up your violin – ask yourself if you want to be the helpless victim or the conquering hero/heroine.
Let’s face it, one’s infinitely more attractive.
~ Joi
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