I Am The Decisive Element

The last couple of weeks have been a philosophical trial challenging my habitual desire to control everything. As I have begun to let the pieces fall where they may, I am learning that my happiness lies not in what is to come, but what is currently in front of me. I have alleviated myself of the burden of expectation and replaced it with a willingness to just be and go.

And now a quote that sums it up best:

"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming."

-Goethe