Man Is What You Believe Essay

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“Man is what he believes.” - Anton Chekhov What determines who you are and what you believe? Your upbringing, your parents’ values and standards, and your experiences so far in life all blend together to make you the person you are right now. That’s not to say that we’re all experiencing family life the way it’s being seen on television. Most of us didn’t grow up with the Cleavers. If you didn’t experience great parenting, your upbringing brought with it different standards and beliefs. This directly affects the way you deal with challenges. A person with more positive attitudes and beliefs will deal with adversity differently than a more pessimistic personality. What one person considers a failure or a loss will be viewed as just more of life’s many changes to another. It’s a fact, however, that you will learn more from adversity than triumph. What makes one…show more content…
Maintaining a positive attitude when everything is falling apart is the real challenge. And when things are not going well, it’s easy to wish you were anywhere else, doing anything else, than where you are. We’ve all heard the old homily about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. But the truth is, the grass is greener wherever it’s been watered. Handle things where you are; make them better, rather than wishing you’re elsewhere. Accept the situation as it is, then find the positive side. That’s how we grow and learn from our experiences. Acceptance makes it easier for us to see how we can improve that situation. Then change your attitude and watch as your life begins to change as well. Katherine Mansfield said, “Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different.” Martha Beck said, “Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on
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