Keep your face to the sunshine

We can make of our experiences what we choose. We can focus on the traffic snarls while traveling to work, or we can smile because we have a job to go to and a car to carry us there.

We can be angry because the washing machine broke down, or grateful that we've been free, for a while, of the laundromat  hassle. 

Every experience offers us an opportunity to respond, and our response is always a reflection of our emotions.

We choose to be angry, depressed, or afraid. We can just as easily decide to be trusting, happy, or confident.

And the exciting realization for us is that we are free to choose whatever pleases us. 

Even though we've gotten mad for years over traffic jams doesn't mean we can't give up the anger.

How liberating it is to claim control of our emotions, our attitudes, our reactions to the full panorama of our experiences.

Today can trip us up or we can run with it.

The first man slammed the steering wheel, cursed, and stormed out of the truck.

The second thought the early morning woods inviting, and said he'd just crawl under a pine to nap until someone came along to pull them out.

 The third man, left alone, grabbed an axe and a saw and set about cutting wood to slide under the wheels.

Within an hour he managed to pull the truck out of its muddy bath and they got on their way. 

We can choose how we respond to an obstacle.

As with the three men, our response may be to curse and give up, to sit back and wait for someone else to help us, or to set to work fearlessly to try to overcome it ourselves. 

The event itself isn't important; how we think about it is.