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"Bad stuff is going to happen to us all. It’s how we react to that bad stuff that sets victors apart from those trapped in victim thinking."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 141.
Our reaction to things in this world is such a powerful reflection of the kind of life we are living at that moment. This is particularly the case when it comes to our reaction to the badness that happens from time to time.
I use to react in such a negative way when bad times hit. Even the simplest of mishap could send me into a tailspin. I can remember some of my most used words when something didn't go my way were, "Why me?". It was as though I thought the world had a personal vendetta against me when even something small and relatively insignificant happened in my life. Thank God, nothing really bad happened during those days when my reaction was so skewed. Who knows the amount of victim thinking I could have unleashed with such a bad attitude.
I have thought long and hard as to why I reacted in such a selfish manner when I experienced things I didn't care to have in my life. You see, I think that the reason I was able to let my reaction get the better of me was because I really didn't know who I was. I was looking to the world to try and help me find my identity. When bad things hit, that brought in a level of identity that scared me badly. I just couldn't stand the thought that badness could ever be a part of who I was.
Look, I hate bad things happening to me as much as the next guy. That reality doesn't make me a victim thinker. It is the fact that I wanted a good life to be proof of something about myself that made it possible for victim thinking to control my reaction to life's circumstances from time to time. When we don't know who we are even the smallest of slights against us can make us react in ways that just doesn't rise to the level of who we really are.
The Dalai Lama has this to say about our reaction to things that come against us. "When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways - either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength."
Now, there's a choice that sets the victor from the victim thinker apart. It is when we turn inward in ways that make self destructive habits part of our coping mechanism that victim thinking can come out of our reactions in potentially victimizing ways. When we turn inward for a strength that has been there before time began that our reaction can take on an entirely different view by this world.
I find it interesting that the Dalai Lama sees what I call victor living and victim thinking the result of the same action. Turning inward isn't what sets the victor apart from the victim thinker. It is what we are looking for when we turn inward that makes the difference. When we come to realize that there are times in this life that we just can't control that we stand the best chance for making our reaction be be something that comes from strength rather from destruction.
Today's Bible reading emphasizes the importance of time in the life of a victor. Check it out with me now.
There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:
A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (MSG)
Bad times are nothing more than that - a time that is passing by. Bad times aren't necessarily a reflection of who you are. They aren't a confirmation as to your value or worth in this world. Bad times are just as fleeting, just as temporary and just as impacting as are the good times in life when it comes to who you are. Good times as well as bad mean nothing when it comes to who you are. Your reaction to good and bad times is what helps to point out the kind of life you are choosing to lead.
I wish I could say I react perfectly to all situations, good or bad, that come my way. I simply can't say that. What I'm learning is that the more I rely on what God says about me the better chance I have at being able to react in ways that make positive change in this world, even when bad times hit.
I hope your day is filled with amazingly positive circumstances. I also hope you react to those positive events in ways that don't challenge your victor status in any way. If, however, you are in the throws of badness, I hope you are able to turn inward and call up that inner strength God has placed there for you. Let your victor status not be challenged by victimizing events in your life. Let the power of who you are as God's Child be what fuels the fire to make change in your world today.
I find it interesting that the Dalai Lama sees what I call victor living and victim thinking the result of the same action. Turning inward isn't what sets the victor apart from the victim thinker. It is what we are looking for when we turn inward that makes the difference. When we come to realize that there are times in this life that we just can't control that we stand the best chance for making our reaction be be something that comes from strength rather from destruction.
Today's Bible reading emphasizes the importance of time in the life of a victor. Check it out with me now.
There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:
A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (MSG)
Bad times are nothing more than that - a time that is passing by. Bad times aren't necessarily a reflection of who you are. They aren't a confirmation as to your value or worth in this world. Bad times are just as fleeting, just as temporary and just as impacting as are the good times in life when it comes to who you are. Good times as well as bad mean nothing when it comes to who you are. Your reaction to good and bad times is what helps to point out the kind of life you are choosing to lead.
I wish I could say I react perfectly to all situations, good or bad, that come my way. I simply can't say that. What I'm learning is that the more I rely on what God says about me the better chance I have at being able to react in ways that make positive change in this world, even when bad times hit.
I hope your day is filled with amazingly positive circumstances. I also hope you react to those positive events in ways that don't challenge your victor status in any way. If, however, you are in the throws of badness, I hope you are able to turn inward and call up that inner strength God has placed there for you. Let your victor status not be challenged by victimizing events in your life. Let the power of who you are as God's Child be what fuels the fire to make change in your world today.
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