Sooner or later in the knocks and bruises that life inevitably brings, we come to a fork in the road. Then we are confronted with a critical choice. Then we must decide which way to travel. One direction leads to bitterness, self-loathing, and despair; the other to self-confidence, vigor, and competence. It all hinges on how we come to see ourselves. Will we see ourselves as hapless victims–would-be winners if not for an endless train of “Them’s” that constantly afflict us; or will we see ourselves as increasingly capable survivors? The first is the way of resignation, defeat, and resentment; the second is the way of hope, mounting strength and achievement. No one need see themselves as a vapid loser, but it is essential first to muster the courage to survive and prevail–to travel down life’s superior course boosted by a determinative decisional moment to become one intrepid survivor:
Even the wisest man grows tense
With some sort of violence
Before he can accomplish fate
Know his work or choose his mate.
(W.B. Yeats: “Under Ben Bulben”)
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