Your Choice

"Among the participants in a recent study of identical twins, there was a pair of brothers in their 40's whose lives were quite opposite. One of them was a happily married lawyer with a flourishing practice. The other was a twice-divorced alcoholic who had gone from job to job all his life. The questionnaire they filled out asked, "What made you the way you are?" The researchers were astonished that these two men had written identical answers to that question: "My father's death when I was ten years old."

I was saddened when I read the above but not truly shocked. I think we all know the underlying truth here...it is clearly not what happens to us that makes us happy or unhappy.

It is how we react.

If my husband rejects an idea I have, I can choose to give up or look for alternative ways. If there's a problem in a relationship I am in, I can blame the other person and walk away or I can see it as a way to learn more about how to love and show compassion. I can allow the stress in my life to make me sick or I can use it to make me stronger and more dependent on God. My weakness can defeat me or it can make me wonderfully aware of God's strength.

Lord, help me choose the way I react today...