Make That Break ThatPrøve

How do your decisions determine the path that you walk? How do your everyday choices determine your destiny? Doesn’t God dictate a person’s destiny? Doesn’t “fate” determine the outcome of a person’s life? Don’t the stars and planets align to write the script of an individual’s life? Don’t other people affect the things that we do? Don’t circumstances place limitations on one’s potential? Aren’t all people “victims” in some sense of that word?

It is true that other factors may play a role in the storyline of a person’s life, but decisions determine the final outcome of that story because decisions lead to actions. While emotion is the “fuel” that drives us to act, it is the decisions we make in response to our feelings that actually determine what we do. Then, our actions determine everything about our journeys and everything about our landings. Other things either contribute to a person’s success or hinder his march to greatness, but those “other things” never write the script. 

The actions we take determine the paths we travel, and the actions we take determine the things we achieve and the places we go in life. The actions we take repeatedly, however, are the actions that will become our habits: the actions that will, for better or worse, control the courses of our lives and set us apart from others who pursue a similar destiny.

This is why Dr. Ben Carson, who grew up in extreme poverty, could become one of the world’s leading neurosurgeons and a formidable candidate for the presidency of the United States while other children in his Detroit neighborhood became trapped in a lifestyle of drugs and crime. The actions we take, particularly the actions we take repeatedly, will determine everything about who we become, what we accomplish, and what we do or fail to do with the talents God has given to us. Ben Carson developed some admirable habits as a young child and those habits took him in a positive direction with his life.

Consequently, we need to understand the awesome responsibility we have as human beings to make good choices and to take actions that will shape our lives in positive ways. After all, actions that are habitual become the ruts in the road that steer us in a particular direction even when we don’t know that they are there.