May 24, 2026- Our joys and our sorrows

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.

~Kahlil Gibran

Today’s circumstances are made from yesterday‘s choices. We are always laying down bricks that will become the path we will walk on in the future. When things are going well in our lives, we can trace the origins back to the things we did to make that happen. When things are not going so well, we can probably look back at some choices that could have been different.

This concept sets us up to be very harsh with ourselves during tough times and overly proud of ourselves when times are good. We do need to remember that there are plenty of factors outside our control which dictate much of our lives. At any point in our lives, we can think about the choices we made to bring us to that spot and realize that some were great and others weren’t. We are only human and we are flawed, but we must come to understand and value the agency we have in how our story unfolds.

When we are sure our story has already been determined – that fate rules our day-to-day existence – we lose much of our power. We must take responsibility for what goes on in our lives. We must imagine what the best version of us would look like and then make choices to turn our vision into reality. We determine our own fate. We choose our joys and our sorrows. We build our own path.