“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen Covey
Tom Schumm claims that brain cancer is the best thing that ever happened to him. In 2002, just five months after he was married, he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. He was furious at his circumstances and with God. For the first time in his life he believed he had achieved a semblance of happiness and now he was very shortly going to die a painful death.
He thought about his choices. He could continue in his outrage and negative thoughts and die a lonely, bitter man, or he could decide to make the most of whatever time he had left and die a happy man. He chose the latter. He began to treat people graciously and positively, he chose to truly enjoy his relationships and squeeze all the joy he could manage to experience out of life. He says that at that point he stopped dying and started truly living.
Thankfully, the experimental treatments he endured led to remission and he has enjoyed many more years of health. Recently, his cancer returned, but he still maintains a positive attitude, believing no matter what his circumstances, he’d rather face them with joy than with bitterness and regret.
Circumstances can tempt us to want to give up. We can feel defeated and let down. We can feel overwhelmed and unappreciated. We can feel like life just isn’t fair. We can feel all of these things and more. However, if you step back and think about it, who ever said life was fair? Where did we get the idea that the universe is supposed to conspire to make life match our dreams? How did we ever believe that our feelings are the primary motivators of our lives?
God has gifted us with freedom. We have a freedom to chose our attitudes and make positive, God-honoring decisions every time, regardless of the crowd or our circumstances. Those decisions, not our circumstances, shape our character. What kind of character do you want to form moving forward?
(Tom shared his story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive)
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