I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

When I first heard this quote by Charles Swindoll, it struck a chord with me. It actually sums up my life mantra perfectly. There are many things that happen in our lives which we have no control over. We get into car accidents, we lose loved ones, we lose our job, we get a flat tire...but the only thing that you will always have 100% control over is your reaction to these things. This is one of those lessons that if you really master, it can be life-changing. It can be the determining factor in success, it can save your relationships, it can make or break your career, and most importantly, it can help you live the life you want.

This is something that I am always working on. Something that sometimes I nail and a lot of times I miss the target. It’s very hard to master and takes constant work. But then again, so does everything in life that’s worthwhile.

So, life is only 10% of what happens to you. Think about this. What this means is that what actually happens to you is such a small part of your life and the bigger part is how you are reacting to it. This means the life that you want is 90% in your hands. Woah! 90?! Where do you ever get a 90% chance in life? Maybe with condoms that are 99% effective? 😂

Here are three things you can do in order to put this principle into action:

1. Shut up before you talk

I have found that 99% of the time, when I take a few seconds (or minutes) to breathe and think before I talk, I always get a better outcome and I always act out of love. Sometimes, we let our emotions get the best of us but if we take a few breaths or a few seconds to get our act together, we avoid all the consequences that come with saying things that we will later regret. We’re not a two-year-old child, we don’t need to throw a tantrum in order to prove a point and get something that we want. Stop, think, then speak.

2. Watch yourself before you wreck yourself

Ask yourself, Am I ok at this moment? When I recognize that I am ok at this moment, my response tends to be more effective and less dramatic. They always come out of a place of peace and love. Am I breathing, is my heart still beating? That’s all that matters. Everything else can be figured out.

3. Is it fixable?

If the answer is yes, I think of a plan and get to fixing it. If the answer is no, I accept the reality of the situation, learning anything that I can and I move on. I don’t have time to let these things hold me back and waste my time and energy. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company…a church….a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. -Charles Swindoll.