Adjusting our perspective

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” ~Maya Angelou

Whether I’m writing my own life stories or coaching others who are writing theirs, I’m amazed at how often we allow our experiences to define us. We might blame our suffering on bad luck (or someone else) and stop trying to improve the situation. Or we might label ourselves as “survivors” who had the courage to overcome a personal challenge or tragedy.

Writing about our lives in a journal motivates us to take a closer look at how far we’ve come. We can view negative experiences from a fresh perspective. And we might realize that we’ve changed for the better or learned something important from a loss or a challenge.

As Maya Angelou reminds us, we can decide “not to be reduced” by the hard times we’ve endured. We might even emerge victorious. ~CL

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