Is It Pre-programmed in Your DNA?
If you really want your life to count … If you really want to live your life to the fullest … If you really want to make significant changes and get your life on the best path, then you must understand that your circumstances do *not *determine the quality of your life. Of course your circumstances affect you, but your circumstances are *not *the determining factor in whether or not your life is fulfilling, satisfying and complete. Your *choices *determine that.
We know, and we can easily prove, that circumstances are not the determining factor in the quality of your life because, as we see every day, two people can have dramatically different responses to exactly the same circumstances.
Why do some people give up after experiencing failure, and for others, the same failure becomes a catalyst, galvanizing their determination to succeed next time, almost propelling them with a driving motivation toward ultimate success?
Why does great personal loss lead some into debilitating depression, while others not only triumph over the same kind of loss, but seem to use it to fuel them to become inspiring leaders, reaching out to help others recover and triumph from the same kinds of losses in life?
Why does the experience of great injustice leave some bitter, obsessed with thoughts of revenge and punishment, while others, like Nelson Mandela, after experiencing 27 years of cruel imprisonment, emerge to unite an entire nation, bringing healing and forgiveness, not only to those who have been terribly wronged, like himself, but also reaching out to his former persecutors, inviting them to enjoy the full benefits of the new unity?
Some may believe that certain people are predisposed to respond in a certain way—that it is pre-programmed into their DNA and is already determined by their genetic heritage. Scientists and researchers used to believe that too, until they proved that you can actually change your DNA by the choices you make.
As Dr. Caroline Leaf has said, “Our genes are constantly being remodeled by our responses to life’s experiences.”
**You are Not the Victim. You are the Engineer. **
It is a critical mistake to conclude that your future has already been determined; that your destiny is out of your control; that your choices don’t matter. The moment you see yourself as a helpless victim of your circumstances, you give up the power to change the quality of your life. Let that sink in. To the degree that you see yourself as a victim of your circumstances, you voluntarily surrender the power to change the quality of your life. That choice will leave you crippled.
There is one essential realization that you have to come to before you can enter into the fullness of the potential that God has for your life. In your life, you are not just a passenger, along for the ride. You are the engineer! You are the one in the driver’s seat! You alone have the power to make the choices that direct your life’s journey.
Many people see themselves as passengers on the journey of life. They see themselves like passengers on a train. They are being carried through life, propelled by forces beyond their control or influence. Life is being thrust upon them. They can only look out of the windows as they get glimpses of better lives that pass them by, always beyond their reach.
They are victims. Life happens to them. Life’s circumstances are thrust upon them. They have no real control or influence to be able to affect any real change to their circumstances.
That view of life is not true reality. That victim mentality is a distortion of truth. That view—that approach to life—leaves people crippled, unable to affect the significant changes that could easily steer their lives onto a pathway of ultimate fulfillment, satisfaction and completeness. Although a deeply fulfilling life is within their reach through the choices that they make, they insist on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
It is a tragic mistake to believe that you are merely a passenger on life’s journey; that life is beyond your control. If that is your mindset, you merely deal with the circumstances thrust upon you as best you can and try to survive one more day. That is the lowest level of existence. Is that really the life that you want?
The truth is that you are not a passenger. You are the engineer. You are the one driving the train. You control whether or not you reach your destiny. It is your position in life. It is your reality, but it is your choice whether or not to accept or reject that reality. If you choose to accept your role as engineer of your life’s journey, you can begin to experience all of the fullness that life has to offer. If you reject it, you can just settle in for the ride and simply endure the circumstances thrust upon you as a powerless victim.
You are the engineer of your life’s journey. That is a fact. Your choice now is to either accept responsibility for your role, or to reject it and allow other people and circumstances to determine your life’s direction and outcome.
Life is not about our circumstances. Life is discovered in the midst of our circumstances, but real life, once you discover it, is above, beyond, and out of reach of our circumstances.
Keep this in mind. What *happens *to you is not what matters most. What matters most is how you *respond *to your circumstances. It will be your responses that determine the quality of your life.
