Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Mike Bechtle from his book, People Can't Drive You Crazy If You Don't Give Them the Keys (p. 46). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Now that is a fact that we want to live but it can be so difficult to do. Mike says, “What can we control? Ourselves . What can we not control? Everything else . “Our frustration comes from trying to control people and circumstances that are out of our realm of control. The key to surviving crazy people is to determine what we have control over and put our energy there. We can’t change others, but we influence them when we change ourselves.” He later says, “Have you ever been angry with someone and couldn’t let it go? Maybe you were hurt in a relationship years ago and haven’t seen the person since. But you’re still living as a victim of that person’s behavior. “Holding anger toward someone in that way is like taking poison and expecting the ot

A thought by Mike Bechtle from his book, People Can't Drive You Crazy If You Don't Give Them the Keys (p. 43). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That’s a good question.   Can I change?   Can you change? Mike says, “The simple answer is yes—people can change. No matter how long they’ve been a certain way, there is always hope. People can grow and change as the currents of life take them in new directions. We don’t want to throw up our arms and say, ‘It’s hopeless. They’ll never change.’ We might be the catalyst in that person’s life, influencing them to become more than they currently are. “The bigger question is, “ Will they change?” There’s no simple answer for that one because we don’t know what choices they might make in the future. There is always hope, but there are never guarantees. If we’re going to avoid becoming victims of other people’s craziness, it’s critical to operate from a dua

A thought by Mike Bechtle from his book, People Can't Drive You Crazy If You Don't Give Them the Keys (p. 42). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Here is the rest of the thought.   Mike says, “When we confuse the two, we set ourselves up for frustration.”   And that is where so many people are today. He goes on, “For instance, I can choose the color of the car I purchase, but I can’t control if someone else likes it or not. I can control the choices I make in raising my kids, but I can’t control the choices they make as they move toward adulthood. “When we see people we care about making bad choices, we want to fix them so they’ll make good choices. But what happens when they don’t? “It’s unhealthy to be at the mercy of what someone does or doesn’t do. We can’t control the choices and attitudes of others. The only thing we really have control over is our own choices and attitudes. When we ta