We rented the movie Life of Pi last night. Interesting. Thought provoking. Symbolic. Young boy Pi has some problems. Fairly serious problems, too. He negotiates these trials and tribulations very well. What makes the movie more than just a series of experiences is what the experiences mean to Pi. The situations and conclusions are singularly Pi's to interpret, to define. That's the real movie. That's real life. That's what is most important. We cannot control every life situation or outcome, but we can say with confidence what every situation and every outcome means to us. Interpreting life is ours to do, and only ours. Purpose and meaning are ours to determine. In other words, it's not what happens that defines our life…it's what we think about what happens that defines our life.
We discover in our education of "how things work" that thinking is everything, and that our everyday lives are defined by us in any fashion we choose. Our behavior, emotions, experiences, are in and of themselves nothing without our definitions, explanations, and assigned meanings. Personal responsibility is the key to understanding how one can take charge of his or her life, changing it this way or that, or feeling a certain way about it all. When you change your thinking and you change your life and ultimately YOU.
