In today’s hectic world, filled with continually increasing business and family responsibilities, do you sometimes feel like fate is on a “knife throwing” binge?

If only the pace would slow down. If only the pressure would ease up for awhile. If only your luck would change.

Go on. Chant all the “if onlys” you want. It’s not going to change your situation or improve your life.

What you must do, instead, is take responsibility.

Yes, responsibility. It’s up to you to start catching those knives by the handles.

You may not be responsible for the situation, but you’re certainly responsible for your reaction to the situation. Or as my grandfather often said: “It’s not the load that breaks you down. It’s the way you carry it.”

Stop waiting for someone or something to rescue you. Stop swimming in negatives. Instead shift the load.

If this all sounds like a Pollyanna answer to problems, it is. But Pollyanna leads a more pleasant life than the Grim Reaper. Given a choice, who would you prefer to work for? Who would you prefer to take your car to? Who would you rather live with? Who would you rather be?

A shop owner once told me how he came to this point in his life and the decision he made. “Things were terrible,” he told me. “Business was down. I was down. It just came to a point where I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Then suddenly, I said, ‘Enough, I can’t live like this.’ If I couldn’t change my business, at least I could change my attitude. So, I did.

“Things haven’t changed that much for my business, but I feel better and my employees sure feel better,” he said. “And, somehow, I just know things are going to get better.”

Author Ellen Glasgon tells us, “No life is so hard that you can’t make it easier by the way you take it.”

Taking responsibility for your reactions may seem foreign or difficult at first – it will definitely take a conscious effort on your part. But with time, you’ll find taking on this responsibility makes all your other burdens lighter.

May you carry your load well.