“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”—Eleanor Roosevelt
We are the sum of our decisions. We are not the product of our environment, per se. Rather we are shaped by our response to our environment—our choices.
We will be what we decide to do in this moment and each subsequent moment. Victims look back. Survivors, over-comers, and people with Purpose look forward.
Indeed, we are shaped by the impact of others in our life—those who have come before us and those seeming distant and detached from us, as well as those in our immediate environment. We cannot escape how others affect us. We can, however, determine the effect others have on us. A wise man (Dr. Geoffrey Mount Varner) recently shared with me the wisdom of his mother:
“Respond to the world the way it is versus how it should be while working on a world as it should be.”
We become a person who will change the world by not dwelling on the past. We become that person my making smart choices in the moment and making choices shape the future. A changed world is a product of our cumulative responsibilities.
Choose to shape the self and the world you desire.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!