Terry and I are in the middle of reading this book called Insight Out by Tina Seelig. It's terrific, and if you dare embark on the journey- and the homework- it's a useful tool for getting your boat out of the mud and onto the bigger waters of life.
I'm certain there will be other "insightful" posts of our path through the book, but I found this quote to just ring my bell. This greater idea that "we choose how we approach every single thing in our life."
She quotes John Gardner from a speech he gave in 1990. The full transcript you can read here.
"Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it passed on to you. out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something. The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them together into that unique pattern that will be your life."
BOOM. Take that with you.