Perspective is everything. It determines our unique way of interpreting the events around us and reacting to them.

In The Life-Changing Power of Gratitude, Marc Reklau shares a parable about twin brothers whose father was a raging alcoholic. After a childhood filled with inconceivable abuse, one of the two brothers becomes a successful businessman, loved throughout their town because of his kindness and generosity, whereas the other follows in his father’s footsteps and abuses everyone who crosses his path. The father dies. One day, the family doctor is called on to check up on the businessman. The doctor, who hasn’t seen him in years, asks him how he became so successful. The businessman replies, “Doctor you know how… You knew my father.”

Months later, the doctor visits the twin brother and notices the miserable way he lives and feels the anger and negative vibes in the air. The doctor looks at the man and asks him why he and his house are in such bad shape. The twin replies, “Doctor you know how… You knew my father.”

Any two people, even twins, can have the same experience and choose to react in different ways based on how they look at it. At any given moment, we get to decide what each experience means to us and how it affects us. We decide if we are the first brother or the second brother, a hero or a victim, just as my friend Deano Sutter said on my podcast.

Palmore, Chris. The Mechanics of Gratitude (p. 20). Kindle Edition.