“Our painful experiences aren’t a liability—they’re a gift. They give us perspective and meaning, an opportunity to find our unique purpose and our strength.”
― The Choice: Embrace the Possible
― The Choice: Embrace the Possible
“What I am suggesting is that each of us turn from the negativism that permeates our society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom we associate, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears. When I was a young man and was prone to speak critically, my father would say: “Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, doubters do not achieve.”
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“...(S)uffering is universal. But victimhood is optional. There is a difference between victimization and victimhood. We are all likely to victimized in some way in the course of our lives. At some point we will suffer some kind of affliction or calamity or abuse, caused by circumstances or people or institutions over which we have little or no control. This is life. And this is victimization. It comes from outside. It's the neighborhood bully, the boss who rages, the spouse who hits, the lover who cheats, the discriminatory law, the accident that lands you in the hospital.
In contrast, victimhood comes from the inside. No one can make you a victim but you. We become victims not because of what happens to us but when we choose to hold on to our victimization. We develop a victim's mind -- a way of thinking and being that is rigid, blaming, pessimistic, stuck in the past, unforgiving, punitive, and without healthy limits or boundaries. We become our own jailors when we choose the confines of the victim's mind.”
― The Choice: Embrace the Possible
In contrast, victimhood comes from the inside. No one can make you a victim but you. We become victims not because of what happens to us but when we choose to hold on to our victimization. We develop a victim's mind -- a way of thinking and being that is rigid, blaming, pessimistic, stuck in the past, unforgiving, punitive, and without healthy limits or boundaries. We become our own jailors when we choose the confines of the victim's mind.”
― The Choice: Embrace the Possible
“An excuse is what you make after the deed is done, while a justification is what you offer before.”
― The Way of Kings
― The Way of Kings
“But a wound unfelt is a wound unhealed.”
― Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul
― Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul
Clean Reads
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— last activity Sep 09, 2024 12:28AM
This is a group for people who love to read a good book, but don't want to have to put it down one chapter in because of things that, if it were a mov ...more
This is a group for people who love to read a good book, but don't want to have to put it down one chapter in because of things that, if it were a mov ...more
David Hansen’s 2023 Year in Books
Take a look at David Hansen’s Year in Books. The good, the bad, the long, the short—it’s all here.
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