Change

When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
Viktor Frankl

There are times when we can not change the situation we are in. Nothing we do or say will make a difference. If you are imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, for instance, there is nothing you can say or do that will get you out of there. That's the ultimate kind of obstacle to reaching your dreams. Something that drastic doesn't happen to most of us, or happen very often. But even in that kind of desperate situation, it doesn't have to be the end of us.

We can change ourselves. We can change our way of looking at the situation. Frustration comes from seeing the situation as hopeless. We find frustration because we are so focused on what we want that we start to think of not getting that specific result as being a disaster. We think our happiness and success depends on getting the result we want. And when we don't get what we want we start to panic. But all that does is make us miserable. And it makes us forget that there are other ways of looking at the situation and other kinds of good results that can come out of it.

When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. We are challenged to find ways of creating results that are not what we had originally hoped for but the best they can be under these circumstances. There were people in Nazi concentration camps who survived by using their time in solitary confinement to think about their relationships, especially with God, and the things they would do if and when they were rescued. By thinking about other things than how painful and annoying it was to be shut up and destined for death, they managed to live until they actually were rescued.

It is all about mental attitude. If they can do that in such desperate circumstances, the rest of us can do it. If you can't change the situation, just find a way to change your attitude about it.