Life is what you make it

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Today an old man told me that he knows I believe in reincarnation and wonder if my next life will be good. But he said life is what you make it. I sometimes wonder about that because I feel trapped. Like I dont have much choice. Do you guys agree with that saying or do you feel trapped with very little choices. Or is it just me.

wtf?

Life usually IS what you make it.

Life is what you make of it, if you are mentally and physically capable.

For example, I know people who are both, and yet they are either lazy or too easily discouraged -- if they're not playing concert-quality music within a week of beginning an instrument, they give it up as hopeless (and usually sulk about it for years afterward).

I truly do not understand such people. I mean, It took me over a year to memorize simple scales in ever major and minor key, sight-read, and even improvise a little. I'm still not concert-grade, though, but people do ask me to bring my fiddle to parties and bar-b-cues.

I just read the book "Outliers" and circumstance is a big factor, one that is not chosen. My NT husband said there was a program on the National Public Radio about the illusion that we have choice. Which reminds me that current parenting technique is to give kids that illusion: Would you like your bath now or in 20 minutes? Like it's their "choice", but there will be a bath --- if my NT husband is overseeing the project.

It's true to some extent, but let's face it, people who are born in to very poor families will have less chances for education and self learning than those who are born in to rich families. And those who are born with healthy bodies have better chances than those who are born with sickly bodies. These things have nothing to do with things being what one makes them.

As an examble, my sister is not disabled. I, on the other hand, was born with a brain problem that would've killed me as a toddler if it wasn't for surgeries and other treatments. It's now under control, but it can't be fixed with current medical knowledge, so I'll never be able to do all the same things my sister can. Yes, we were born in to the same family, so outwardly people would think we have the same chances of making something of our selves, but since my disability prevents me from doing many jobs and from taking many different hobbies, that is not actually true. I did not choose to have this condition. There are too many things that affect people's lives; people are not born equal. Some will have it easier since birth than others, that's a fact.

I guess I have some choice. Like I could probably have a boyfriend if I wanted. But I have low self confidence so I don’t want to pursue. Poverty could be to blame for the low self confidence. I don’t have a choice of being in a band because I have poor short term memory and certain health issues. Yeah poverty doesn’t leave you with many choices.

Poverty, disability, mental illness, wars, storms: many things place limits on our choices. But there are always little choices that can make one's life better, even if infinitesimally so. And if one chooses ( ) each day to make those positive choices, over time, maybe there will be more options open to one.

When I first heard words like these, I thought, yeah, right. But after practicing appreciation of all the little things I life, I realized how much I had been missing and now it is second nature. And yes, there's a powerful storm moving my way, but today it is beautiful and I have a cat on my lap and the late summer wildflowers are starting to bloom. And really, it doesn't get much better than that.