It’s Up to Me
©2024 Susan Noyes Anderson
image by Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images
It’s up to me to live my days
in sunlit hues or shady haze.
Though circumstance vies for control,
I chart the weather in my soul.
The climate there is mine to own
for, while I’m never left alone;
as author of my destiny,
the temperature depends on me.
Some days a mist comes swirling through,
determined to obscure my view.
In need, I look to spirit sight
to find and feel the Savior’s light.
And when life’s noise becomes too loud
(an endless, thundering nimbus cloud),
I draw inside myself, be still,
and listen for the Savior’s will.
Should driving rain assail my peace,
I wait upon the Lord and cease
to fear the flood or curse the gale,
telling myself God will prevail.
And so He will; this truth I know.
God’s purpose is to let me grow.
My soul-work rests upon His grace,
and He will go before my face.
But how I love and feel and see?
Those answers rest on agency.
Each choice my own, forever mine –
my spirit free, His gift divine.
Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. – Viktor E. Frankl
I love the words of Viktor Frankl and his hard-won understanding of the space between stimulus and response. I don’t always get it right, but in my life, finding and keeping God in that space makes all the difference.
∞∞∞
If this poem resonates with you, you might also relate to Hope Abides, Choosing Hope, and Neglect Not the Gift That Is in Thee.
Tags: adversity, agency, attitude, discipleship, empowerment, faith, freedom, God, life, mood, overcoming, strength, trusting God, Viktor Frankl
