365 Days With Self-Discipline: 365 Life-Altering Thoughts on Self-Control, Mental Resilience, and Success

Day 321: On Being the Creator of Your

Circumstances

Man  is  not  the  creature  of  circumstances,  circumstances  are  the

creatures of men.

—Benjamin Disraeli

 

322

It  would  be  nice  to  blame  our  circumstances  for  everything  bad  that

happens  in  our  lives.  Finally,  there  would  be  something  else  that  is

responsible for our deficiencies, inaction, lack of willpower, etc.

Unfortunately  (or  rather,  fortunately),  we’re  the  creators  of  the

circumstances in which we find ourselves today.

While you can’t change where you were born, you can change where

you live.

While you can’t change who your parents were, you can choose your

teachers and mentors.

While you can’t change whether you were born blind, deaf, mute, or

with a different physical disability, you can change how you think about it.

So many people accept their circumstances for what they are, instead

of acknowledging that they always have some control over them — even if

it’s just the ability to change how you think about them.

If you don’t like something about your circumstances, you can change

them, accept them, or find power in them .

If you don’t like where you live, you can move to a different place. If

for some reason you can’t do that, you can accept where you live and focus

on  other  aspects  of  your  life  there.  You  can  also  find  power  in  your

environment  and  discover  the  hidden  benefits  of  where  you  live  (for

example, a small town might not be great for job prospects, but your costs

of living are lower).

Don’t  make  yourself  a  victim  by  believing  that  you’re  a  creature  of

circumstances or you might as well give up any hope for a better future.

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