“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” — Epictetus
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What happens to us is in life is an objective reality, how we respond is a subjective choice. The Stoics — of which Epictetus was one — would say that we don’t control what happens to us, all we control are our thoughts and reactions to what happens to us.
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You’re defined in this life not by your good luck or your bad luck, but your reaction to those strokes of fortune.
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Everyone is better than you at something. This is a fact of life. There is no one person who is the best at all things. Who doesn’t have room to improve? So if you can find the humility to accept this about yourself, what you will realize is that the world is one giant classroom.
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Knowledge comes from everything we do and everything that happens to us. We learn valuable lessons over the course of time based on our experiences and the ways in which we react to them. Every hardship presents an opportunity, we just need to recognize that instead of letting it defeat us.
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Don’t keep asking yourself; “When will what I do be enough?”….. Nothing will work unless you do. Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished.
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You always have a choice of how you are going to respond to what the world offers you. Do not let SOMETHING dictate the way you REACT to things. You need to look within yourself and realize that you have the power to make things happen.
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No matter what way we see the world and react to it, the way we do so is crucial for our character and how we are as a person. We should all strive to be better people instead of wallowing over seemingly petty things.
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Change is not easy, but it is the only way you will find the key that unlocks the next door that allows you to move in the direction you want and improve.
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Life isn’t only defined by what happens to you. What matters most is how you react to every circumstance, what you learn from it, and the resources you acquire in order to face similar experiences in the most effective way.
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Any decision you make today will resonate in your future. Choose to take responsibility for yourself, act and respond, remember that yesterday doesn’t matter. What matters is what you do today; the here and now. 
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 Image of Kenji Tomiki (1900 – 1979) founder of Tomiki Aikido
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