Choosing Your Way

Victor Frankl wrote, "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that 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."

Think of all the things that you can't control: the weather, the behavior and choices of those with whom you work, what comes in the mail to you, spam, the price of gas, your health, the decisions your children make, the decisions your parents make, and many others. You may have some influence over these things, but not complete control.

The one thing you can control is how you will respond to the situations you face. With anger, doubt, and self-pity ... or with faith, hope, and love.

Again and again in the Psalms we encounter David in difficult situations -- surrounded by enemies, struggling with sin, sinking in despair -- and again and again we see his absolute resolve to think right: Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Psalm 43:5)

You and I can't control what happens today, but we can control our actions. Don't let your situations get the best of you today; no matter what you face, you can choose your own way.