Before Julius Caesar passed the Rubicon to begin the Roman Civil War, he said: "iacta alea est"-- or "the die is cast". It refers to a game of chance where a person would throw dice to get a certain number. So, the die is cast means, "We've hit the point of no return.. we've taken steps to get where we are & now we're here.. we threw the dice & now they'll land where they'll land".
I'm in a pocket of life where I feel like a slave to uncertainty.. maybe you can relate. I'm living day to day frozen in the moment when the dice are mid-air: unsure of where to live, how to respond to people, where to work, what path of life to commit to.
I have a very adamant rule of how i live life: regardless of the situation, i refuse to give myself the title of victim. Whatever is happening, i never allow myself to be called a victim unto what's happening. To be called 'victim' is to be labeled by hardship. I never want the difficult things (or the good things) in life to give me my name.
People can make you feel happy, but the sum of a person isn't a feeling. Feelings are fleeting-- i felt heart broken when my yukon passed. As genuine & deep as that feeling was, it lightens/passes with time. i felt in love with troy bulton from high school musical-- but when he didn't even attend the HSM reunion show, i felt VERY differently. the boy who made me the happiest girl in Warrensburg Middle School now evokes no feelings for me.
feelings are on a constant variable dependent on context. something that unreliable doesn't have the authority to name you.
amidst the uncertainty i'm walking through, i recall my ability. i am not victim to situations. this is where iacta alea est comes into play.
julius caesar said those words when he was in the midst of changing his situation. when we begin to take action, or inaction, to our situation-- the die is cast. when we decide how to actively respond to events, we hit the point of no return. if this response is negative, the action is made & there's no going back. either saying harsh words in the heat of the moment, making careless decisions, taking an eye for an eye, etc..
a positive response casts the die as well. taking care of ourselves, meditating, exercising, helping others, speaking to the check out lady, reading, enjoying nature, sitting with the moment, calling your mom simply to say, "thank you". these moments cast the die of how our minds develop, how others see us, how we honor ourselves, how our paths twist & turn.
true strength & eternal significance lies in not our situation but in our response.
we are not always responsible for events in life-- often they happen without any action on our part. we are, however, entirely responsible for our response. You may be familiar with holocaust survivor, author, neurologist & all around outstanding human, Viktor Frankl. In his book, "Man's Search for Meaning" (which i HIGHLY recommend), he says: "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom".
Friend, only you can change you. We can't blame the way we are (how we feel, our tendencies) on another heart or circumstance. Absolutely, terrible things out of our control happen, but you control who you are & who you become. Celebrate that power! Get a manicure, drink wine with a best friend (love ya, Annie), buy a new top, dance alone in your room.
Celebrate! For you've hit the point of no return once you throw the dice of investing in yourself. Once you've tasted the freedom of responding with grace, courage & positive intention, you cannot return to the comfortable cage which made you ignorant of who you could become.
Have the courage to create change. Only you can strengthen yourself. Only you can find joy in the little things. Love yourself, love others, change the way things are.
Situations may entrap us, but our response frees us. This type of freedom is the kind that casts the die. It cannot be taken back, it is ours.
Each action, or lack of action, adds a stitch to the fabric which our lives is making. They cannot be undone- but they can be done well. Remember that you have the power to change your circumstance, change your perspective & change the outcome. Respond, act, cast the die. In the face of pain, uncertainty, joy-- march into a response-- reach the point where you cannot return to the cage of victimhood.
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