Live, Laugh, Love Part II

In the realm of my own contentment, I picked up a book I had put down months ago in attempt to finish. I put it down in the first place b/c I didn't feel I was relating to what the story was about. Funny how the timing works out, though, b/c after a few pages, I was hooked on this book - I finally started to understand.

The following is an excerpt from Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert that I found very powerful in establishing the right balance to find contentment. It is so true in life - you have the ability to control some things, while at the same time, you have no control at all - she puts it perfectly.

Prayer is a relationship; half the job is mine. If I want transformation, but can't even be bothered to articulate what, exactly, I'm aiming for, how will it ever occur?...Destiny, I feel, is also a relationship - a play between divine grace and willful self-effort. Half of it you have no control over; half of it is absolutely in your hands, and your actions will show measurable consequence. Man is neither entirely a puppet of the gods, nor is he entirely the captain of his own destiny; he's a little of both. We gallop through our lives like circus performers balancing on two speeding side-by-side horses - one foot is on the horse called "fate," the other on a foot called "free-will." And the question you have to ask every day is - which horse is which? Which horse do I need to stop worrying about b/c its not under my control, and which do I need to steer with concentrated effort?