Defining Life

I have a daughter who has been suffering from some debilitating physical challenges.  In the last few months her pain and limits have become much worse.  Despite her unexpected challenges she has kept up an amazingly positive attitude.  I learned a great lesson from her a couple of weeks ago when I asked her how she was doing that day.  She said, "I'm doing great!  My body is having a bad day, but I'm doing great!"  I have pondered a lot about this statement.  Somehow this young teenager has been able to separate her painful trial from how she feels about her life.  She has not let her trial define her.

I have seen other people who have been able to do this as well.  I know another amazing young lady who has been a talented gymnast.  Because of an accident beyond her control while performing service for others, she suffered a severe back injury.  As a result she has had multiple painful back surgeries over the last couple of years.  She has not been able to return to gymnastics, one of her passions.  Despite these heavy challenges she consistently posts positive things on Facebook about how peaceful and happy she is, and the things she is grateful for in her life.  She never talks about the suffering she is going through.  She does not let her trial define her.

What I am learning is that I have a choice.  I have a choice about what defines my life, we all do.  We are not victims of life.  Yes, we may have overwhelming hard circumstances that we cannot control, but we still have the freedom to choose how we respond, and how we feel inside.

Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and author of Man's Search for Meaning has said, "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."

The examples of those around me have inspired me to work to choose a positive attitude, to choose how I will define my life, not by my trials and circumstances, but by what I choose to see, what I choose to create, what I choose to think about.