I believe that much of the quality of our lives lies less in what happens to us, and more in how we choose to interpret and react to events.
Dr. Scott Galloway of “No Mercy, No Malice” blog fame once remarked that his experience had taught him that “Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems.”
The Roman philosopher Seneca taught that “We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.
The writer and philosopher Alan Watts observed that “…it’s really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad-because you never know what will be the consequences of misfortune; alternatively, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.”
Mr. Watts relates a delightful story conveying his belief that we have the gift of choice about the meaning we assign to what happens to us. It is perhaps the most important choice we have in life. Take 2 minutes for a charming video that you’ll want to share.
