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IF YOU DECIDE YOUR FATE is in your own
hands, it is. If you decide you are pushed around by circumstances
beyond your control, you are.
The truth is, our fate is in our own hands
to some degree, and also there are a lot of things that influence
us and are out of our control or have been preordained (like
where we were born).
But if you decide your fate is in your
hands, your fate becomes more in your hands, and as time goes
on, it becomes more and more true, like a small wave catching
more of the wind and becoming an ever larger wave.
It is only a matter of where you put your
attention. For example, if you pay attention to the forces that
influence you beyond your control, you'll feel helpless, at least
a little. Depression, or some degree of it, follows like thunder
after the flash. When people feel helpless, they don't take actions
they could take that would make their situation better. A belief
in one's helplessness actually makes one more helpless.
Put your attention on what you can
effect, however, and your life will go more the way you want
it to. You're concentrating your attention where it counts. This
makes you more likely to take action, and makes your actions
more effective. Optimism follows. And as numerous studies have
shown, including the thorough work of Martin Seligman, PhD, Kogod
Professor and Director of Clinical Training in Psychology at
the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the side-effects
of optimism are better health,
more success, higher self-esteem,
and a greater feeling of control. You'll have a greater feeling
of control because you actually have more control. Your
decision that your fate is in your own hands has given you more
control of your life.
Your fate is, to a considerable degree,
what you make it.
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