There are really only two ways to approach life – as victim or as gallant fighter – and you must decide if you want to act or react, deal your own cards or play with a stacked deck. And if you don’t decide which way to play with life, it always plays with you.  –Merle Shain

I’ve learned to be wary of the black and white thinking espoused in the first phrase of this quote. There usually are more than two choices! That having been said, the quote still has merit when it comes to you thinking about how to move your life along in a direction that you intend. You can sit still and life will happen to you or you can be that “gallant fighter” and deal with life on your terms. You can react to whatever life throws your way or, you can think about it and respond, “act” in a responsible way. You also get to choose when to respond. No reaction and no response nets you being a victim again as life is pulling you along. How much control do you want over your own life? Do you want to deal your own cards or do you just want to react to what you have been dealt? Reacting leaves you connected to that which just happened – it’s highly emotional, often dramatic and inefficient. I think my chances are better if I’m dealing my own cards; someone else’s stacked deck is their deck!

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