Are you living intentionally or by accident? Are you proactive or reactive? Do you find yourself thinking that things are out of control and feel that you are being swept up in a vortex that is beyond your control?
Most people are living their life by accident. They are stumbling through life as if they are a pebble being swept downstream by a current they cannot control. They feel powerless and out of control. They feel helpless and victimized by circumstances.
This sense of helplessness has horrendous consequences. Today there are more personal bankruptcies than at any point in history. The use of anti-depressants is epidemic. Libido enhancing commercials dominate the Super Bowl ads. People are whacked out.
Why?
One of the reasons is that individuals have given up the idea of personal responsibility. They have abandoned the idea that “happiness is an inside job”. Instead of looking inwardly for direction and meaning in life they have given up and now look outwardly to the government, the company, their parents, or employers for their direction. This is easier than looking in the mirror and asking hard questions such as “Why am I here? What do I really want? Or what do I need to change about myself?”
Why don’t we talk about these things openly like we talk about sports or politics? Perhaps it is because we don’t want to accept the ultimate truth that we are who we are and where we are because of what we have either done or not done in our life. It’s tough to admit that we, not someone else, is responsible for our circumstances in life.
People who live intentionally take ultimate responsibility for everything in their life. They refuse to make excuses or rationalize their situation. They accept that the problems in their life are of their own doing. Once they accept this they get on with fixing what needs to be fixed in their life. It takes a lot of courage to do this. Unfortunately, most people don’t have it.
A wise man once said…
“You can either be part of your plan or you WILL be part of someone else’s plan.”
The choice is yours.
