If you don’t like what’s in your life then change you.

Let this be our wake-up call. There are too many horrible tragedies in the news feed these days that didn’t have to be that way. Behaviors that came about from years of decision making and going with the status quo.

We each need to realize that what shows up in my life today is directly influenced by my decisions from yesterday. I play a part in creating my reality. Collectively, we each play a part in creating our community.

Our beliefs, our values, our experiences, our history… those things all feed into our thoughts, and those thoughts instigate our behavior that impacts our lives and the lives of others. But we don’t have to be blindly led by those thoughts. We don’t have to live out patterns or historical records.

Who you are today, comes from the decisions you have made or not made along the way.

Last week on Facebook, I posted a comment by Viktor Frankl and many of you responded. For those of you who don’t know him, he was a Jewish psychiatrist who survived being in a concentration camp. None of his family members survived. He wrote and shared about his experiences in the book, “Man’s Search for Meaning.”

In the book he states, “We watched and witnessed some of our comrades behave like swine while others behaved like saints.” Some of the captives stole food from each other. Others sided with the guards trying to get favor. He goes on to say, “Man has both the potentialities within. Which one is actualized depends on decisions but not on conditions.”

It depends on decisions not conditions… think about that for a moment… whether you are a swine or a saint depends on your decisions not your conditions. While they were being held captive and horrifically tortured, some behaved like swine while others behaved like saints.

The same applies today. Whether you are a swine or a saint is your decision to make, and yours alone. It’s not the condition or experience you are in that is at fault – you make your own decisions.

Who you are going to be and how you are going to respond is your choice. Don’t say there is nothing you can do. Don’t sit idle and blame your past life or the behavior of others for your current situation. Choose more.

We are seeing one story after another about decisions people make in the moment – and how lives are being tragically altered as a result. How each of those people behaved came from decisions they made every day leading up to that moment. Their choices and decisions fueled that moment and sadly, another horrible news story.

It’s not the condition we live in that determines who we are – but what comes from within each one of us. We all have the potential to be swine or saints. Are you paying attention to the decisions you make today and reflecting on the reality they are creating?

Are you thinking about how you choose to interact with others? How do you treat the person with a mental or physical handicap, from a lower socio-economic status, with a different skin color or a language not your own?

If you want a different tomorrow, start working on a different decision today. You make the decisions in your life. Your conditions don’t make them for you. You own the right to your thoughts. No one can tell you what to think or what to decide. That is yours and yours alone. Choose to become more aware of how you think and the decisions you make today and make better one’s because that will lead to your tomorrow.

Viktor Frankl also said, “Human potential at its best is to transform a tragedy into a personal triumph, to turn one’s predicament into a human achievement.” Viktor endured horrors we cannot begin to imagine. His life story has influenced millions for good because of the choices he made. Let today’s tragedy lead to change within each one of us.

You have the potential at any given moment to make a change. You were created with the ability to choose your thoughts, to choose what you are going to focus on. You are not limited to your past life. That is your choice.

Choose wisely friends! Work on your self-awareness. Pay attention to your thoughts. Choose to make better decisions for yourself and for those around you. If we want to be better collectively, we must first be better individually. Take steps of growth toward becoming more like the person you want to be.