Life is About Creating Yourself

©2009, Betsy S. Franz

I'm a big collector of quotations.

I was reminded of one yesterday while I was whining about dealing with some of life's unpleasantries.The quotation is: “Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” and it is attributed to George Bernard Shaw.

During my whining yesterday, I said that I think it is sad that I have lost so much of my spark because of my mother's Alzheimer's. I was acting like a victim. Like I had no choice in the matter. Somehow, the quote jumped into my mind and reminded me that I do have a choice.

Everyday when we wake up, we have a new choice. A new choice to create the “self” that we want to be. Yes, there are unpleasant things in life, but we always have the choice of how to react to them and how to face them and how to deal with them.

In fact, we have the choice in many cases whether to deal with them at all.

So, I am going to spend some time today reminding myself of the kind of person I want to be. I am going to write down the qualities that I want to have, such as kindness and patience and humor and gratitude. I can guarantee you that whiny and depressed won't be anywhere on my list.

And when I have my list done, I am going to print it out and hang it up here in front of me to remind myself of the “me” I want to be. Sometimes we need a kick in the butt to help remind us of the truths in life.