I Took the Only Path To See You

CHAPTER 9The Importance of Principles

We're all born alone, and ultimately, we will all die alone. Although we may be surrounded by our mother, father, doctors, relatives, and friends through all stages of life, in the end, only we can go through each experience and decide for ourselves how we will react and what we will do next. That means the fate of your life lies solely in your own hands.

That's a huge responsibility, but it's ours whether we like it or not. It's easy to blame others for your problems and take credit for anything good, but that's never the way to success. That path can only lead to delusion, frustration, and anger. A far better solution is to look at reality with wide-open eyes, determine what you like, what you don't like, and then go about fixing the problem.

If your car broke down on the highway, you wouldn't blame the economy, the current politicians, other countries, or people you don't like. Doing so still wouldn't fix your problem of a broken car on the side of the road. Instead, you would focus on getting help to tow your car off the road and into a garage where a mechanic could diagnose the problem and fix it.

That's the way you have to approach your own life, by taking responsibility for making decisions that impact the quality of your life. At any moment, you always have a choice. You can actively work toward achieving positive outcomes, or you can passively wait and hope something good will come to your life.

If you passively wait for others ...