Most mature, responsible adults are sensible enough to know that have we the ability to choose the actions we take, and will readily admit having made such choices. For example; if I was attending a car show, it is unlikely I would claim I was there because there was construction on the highway and the sun was strong in the morning, would I? No, I was there because I wanted to go, and it was my choice. Another example would be that if I painted a racing stripe down the middle of my 69 Camaro, I would never claim it happened because a squirrel ran across my lawn the day before and I was my tax accounted was on vacation since that would be ridiculous. I would proudly own up to being the mastermind of the plan, even if there were others that suggested it, being my car, it would not have happened without my complete approval.

With this being said, it is safe to conclude that most of us realize we are master of our own actions, and director of our personal show we call life. That is why it is so puzzling that close to 90 percent of us are not living the lives we would desire and also 90 percent of those in such a position truly believe it is not their fault.

 An alarming amount of so-called responsible, pragmatic adults, not prone to delusion or fantasy, seriously feel that the circumstances of their life occurred without their permission and with no control on their part. How can that be? How can so many millions of people show up a car show that they had no interest in going to, or paint their car without consent? Baffling, don’t you think?

 If you ask the average person what they would be doing if they could do anything they wanted, what they tell you will be light years from what they are actually doing. If the follow up was: why? The finger pointing will ensue.

 Born in a poor neighborhood, or wrong ethnicity; perhaps, you will hear that they had a bad childhood, or even lacked opportunity, but rarely will anyone claim they made bad choices, or were too lazy to follow their own desires. Assigning blame is easier than facing the fact they we were responsible. Pointing fingers seems to be the veritable “pass” we need to save face or project a modicum of pride.

There is solace in assuring ourselves that we did not betray our inner child and relent to evolve into the person we always thought we could be, but it is still tough pill to swallow. We generally know the truth deep down inside and bury it under layers of blame so we can look ourselves in the mirror.

 There is one big problem with this philosophy though. If we “blame” the conditions of our lives; success, finances, relationships, career, health, happiness & joy, on forces beyond our control, we then are convinced that we have no control to undo things. “THEY”, hold our fate in their hands, and barring some societal benevolence surge, we are doomed to be miserable forever.  I fear we will be waiting a long time. Millions of individuals will leave this earth with their song still in them, having lived lives of quiet desperation having spent their days “Waiting for Godot”.

 We all need to accept that every aspect “EVERY SINGLE ONE” of our lives is born of a choice or decision we made. At times that decision may have been to not even decide on something, or to abstain from dealing with things that require decision making, but regardless, we made a choice. Each choice opened or closed a door. The place we now stand has been the culmination of the road we chose to travel, and the turns we decided to take.

 The ONLY WAY to accomplish growth of any kind and reverse negative trends we are experiencing is to own the place we are so we can recover the control to change it. The fantastic news is that every day, every moment has within it the seed for change and fertile soil of opportunity. A new day presents itself without a care for the past. We can change today, now, this minute by DECIDING to take control, and make choices that are aligned with our highest good. Our focused thoughts and point of attention will be the groundwork for future experiences to unfold. We can choose to remain fixated on where we are, keeping us tethered to the spot we blame the world for putting us, or training our minds to only entertain thoughts, images, conversations and actions that are synchronous with our preferred life.  Turn that pointing finger back at ourselves, and we can make the world our playground. Keep pointing outward and we will be waiting for Godot forever.

THE JOURNEY IS THE DESTINATION