Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. Philippians 4:11-13 (The Message)
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"We frequently tell ourselves, If only my circumstances were different, then things would be a whole lot better. And so we begin the merry-go-round of wishful thinking: If only I had a different job ... If only my child had turned out differently ... If only I had married someone else ... If only I had stayed on at school.
It hardly needs to said that this approach to our circumstances is less than productive. It blinds us to what is good in our present situation, and it constantly shifts the responsibility regarding what is happening to us "over there."
A far more productive approach is that we own our circumstances as being the result of our own choices and begin to entertain the question: What is God seeking to do in my life through my present circumstances? Nouwen records the advice he received from a fellow priest: "The issue is not where you are, but how you live wherever you are."
Frequently the most relevant issue for us is not a change of circumstances, but a change of self. A change of self does not occur through avoidance behavior. It takes place when we face our excuses and rationalizations and assume responsibility for what we are making of our lives."
"A Change of Circumstances or Self: Facing Our Responsibility", Dare to Journey with Henri Nouwen by Charles Ringma (Pinon).
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