Consider this:
The situation is neutral — it only becomes a positive experience or a negative experience according to the energy you impose upon it.
The circumstance is neutral — it is your perspective that turns it into a mess or a blessing.
Whenever I consider the power that one experiences from allowing the situation to be neutral, I am reminded of Nelson Mandela. In fact, as I was writing this Note, I learned that he had a quote taped to the wall of his prison cell: “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.”
I have a small example of my own. This happened a few years ago. After throwing the 2nd wheel bearing in two days on our trailer (our home), and after being stranded on the shoulder of Interstate 35 north of Kansas City for a couple of hours, and after a mechanic arrived and chained the axle with the damaged wheel to the other trailer axle, I was pulling the trailer with only 3 of its 4 tires on the ground, and I was prepared to be really freaked out. Actually, I was well on my way to being freaked out. Oh my god! This is terrible!!
Then I decided to change my perspective. Why be freaked out? Was there something inherent in the situation that required me to be freaked out? Driving slowly, pulling my disabled trailer, I decided not to be freaked out. I decided to try gratitude instead.
Just like that, a situation that had been fraught with tension and anxiety became a situation filled with gratitude and curiosity. Just like that.
I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.