I Refuse To Be A Victim

“I refuse to be a victim! I have choices.”

Those are the words that spun through my head as I wallowed in self pity and borderline depression several years ago. It was Christmas. I was exhausted. I just had a funeral for my wife and the whole month and holiday seemed like a blur. Family and friends had returned home and my folks encouraged me to join them for Christmas and bring the dogs along. I reluctantly accepted. You see, I pretty much wrote off the holiday season and all its meaning because I also felt like a victim.

I felt cheated. I felt pissed off. I felt like life dealt me and my now late wife a very unfair blow. It was easy to just give up and go through life numb. But something inside me stirred and told me I was making up a BS story in my head. Perhaps it was my upbringing. Perhaps it was all I had accomplished with my transformation that empowered me. Perhaps it was a higher, energy and power. I’m not sure. But it was telling me “I refuse to be a victim!”

Recently, I learned of the passing of a high school classmate. She died from Cancer. I have lost a few friends that way. I am also reading a book called, Unbroken (which I discovered is very popular due to it’s movie release). Both of these events have me thinking about life and being a victim and the choices we have. The mindset we can choose and the circumstances we cannot.

Life is full of uncertainty. It’s easy to be a victim of circumstance, take life as it is and be filled with bitterness, anger, hate, complaints, and judgement. All of those things are a choice.

You can also choose to change your attitude and learn, grow and be happy regardless of circumstance. Yes, I know, some circumstances are dire as I am reading in Unbroken. So, I will not minimize life’s challenges and some can be pretty significant and intense. But, you can choose your attitude about how you respond. How you look at things and how you act.

Years ago in some of my darkest days, I knew that if I just took small daily actions toward the positive changes I wanted to make, in the long run they would pay off in a positive way (I refuse to be a victim mindset) And they did and continue to do so to this very day.

Let me ask you, what are your priorities? What do you want to accomplish? Does it seem that circumstances beyond your control are keeping you from being where you want to be?

I tell you, once you decide to call BS on the story in your head that is holding you back, you can accomplish amazing things! Fitness, health, finances, love and more!

What story are you going to change? It’s time to start with