What Are You Doing With The Deck You've Been Dealt?

The problems at night may have a little to do with the past, but they have a lot more to do with what you are choosing to do in the present.

Greitens, Eric (2015-03-10). Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life (Kindle Locations 93-94). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.

I work with addicts and alcoholics on the east side of the river in Portland, OR.  I spend some time getting to know the guys after they've been in our program for awhile.  As you can imagine, I hear stories and see things that make me weep.  The incredible capacity of humans to love and to hate rocks the fibre of my being.

Sometimes people are born into a life where the deck is stacked against them.  Sometimes people are born into a life where the deck is stacked in their favor.  What people choose to do with the deck they've been dealt is the only thing in their control.  The road is rarely easy.  And, regardless of the deck anyone was dealt, they will struggle in this life.

The present we live in is the sum of the choices we made with the deck we were dealt.  If we want to change tomorrow, we have to make different choices.  Our choices cannot be based on the past.  They must be based on the future we want to create.  The road to creating a better future after so much suffering is incredibly difficult.

Some people say people can't change.  Change isn't impossible.  Change is just difficult and painful.  Most people aren't willing to put in the effort and make the consistent and incremental decisions necessary to sculpt a better future.

Creating a better future is possible, I know because my team and I help devastated people put their lives back together one choice at a time, one day at a time.

photo by Benjamin Duncan