STOP AND THINK – Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them. (Epictetus, 2nd century Greek Stoic philosopher)
It may require a little maturity to see things the way Epictetus did. Most of us are inclined to judge “things” as they happen to us, either crediting or blaming them for how life turns out for us. In reality, of course, “things” are not to blame. It’s how we look at them, how we respond to them. We are the responsible actors, not “things.”
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me . . . All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. (Philippians 3:13-15)