This I believe
“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it,” a famous
quote from Charles R. Swindoll, everyone can live by. If everyone could
adapt to this motto, the world would be a much more peaceful place. I
myself can’t say I live by this adage on a daily basis, therefore I won’t
preach on how it is the only way to live, however, I feel confident enough
to assume it is a much better option that pitying myself constantly. I
can seek comfort in the idea that I do control how I make a situation in
the end. We as humans cannot control some things, but rest assured we do
control what we make of those happenings. This I believe.
If I could relay this message to my mind every time I encounter
displeasure or a misfortune I believe I could make much better of the
situation, it is much easier said than done of course. Very few people
can stop to realize the reality of the situation when something negative
happens, most just get angry, and let it ruin their day, myself included.
The beauty of this adage is that is can improve a person’s quality of
life. Just knowing in the back of my mind, that I have the power to “turn
a frown upside down” by either moving on, or just forgetting a certain
instance is very comforting to me. All the stress, pain, and nervousness
of a situation can be replaced; simply by mind over matter, “there’s
always tomorrow,” “Everything happens for a reason,” these common sayings
can help a person move on and start working towards making the situation
better.
I do realize there are some things that we as humans cannot control; we
cannot control the car breaking down, and it making us late for school.
We cannot help it that we caught the red light in the middle of traffic,
and we certainly cannot control our little sister spilling hot coffee on
our new shirt before school. All of these are tangibles that we have no
control over whatsoever. There is actually a motivational movement, such
as the “pay it forward” movement called the “90/10 secret.” The emphasis
on the movement is simply to make your life more enjoyable, by reacting
better to situations that happen in your daily life.
As I previously stated, 10% of life is not controlled by man, but the
other 90% is what dictates how we live. Take for example; it is your turn
to work the weekend shift this month. You come home Friday evening to
your wife and son, in a terrible mood because you have to wake up at six
in the morning and go into work for eight hours. You and your wife get
into an intense argument about you being in a poor mood, your son wants
you to play with him, but you decide to blow him off because you have to
wake up early the next morning, he cries for hours. While you and your
wife are arguing, you get frustrated and drop your coffee mug and it falls
on your toe. You arrive at work the next morning, the day seems to
already be a bad one, and come time to leave it seems like the worst day
ever, was this bad day your boss’s fault, your wife’s fault, the coffee
mugs fault? Your bad day was at fault of yourself, you let a few negative
tangibles ruin two days of your life that you will never receive back.
Not only that, but now there is a wedge in your relationship with your
wife because of the argument the two of you sustained, and your son
because you upset him when you wouldn’t spend quality time with him.
In my opinion, if a person would put the “90/10 secret” into use during
those negative times, those two days could not have only been better, but
enjoyable. By applying the secret into use, a person could have just
accepted that they had to work this weekend, after all it is your turn to
work the weekend shift. You come home in a better mood, you and your wife
get along great, and you play with your son for a while before going to
bed. The injury sustained to your big toe was avoided because there was
no argument with your wife. You wake up the next morning with the mindset
of going into work this weekend, but having the next four weekends off,
and you and your colleagues get along great, it was a good day of work.
The differential between the two scenarios are extreme, yet logical at the
same time. The difference that a person’s attitude conveys is amazing,
and the success that having control over your reactions, emotions and
attitude is inevitable.
In closing, from personal experience, I will confess, the results from
putting the “90/10 secret” into play are amazing. I believe every person
can live a more successful and peaceful life having learned to put the
secret in affect. So, this I challenge you: use the “90/10 secret” as a
part of daily life, and reap the benefits.
“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it,” This I
believe.