Sometimes, when life gets us down, we decide that we want to attend a pity party. We act as if everything that happens to us is out of our control and that we have no choices or options when this occurs. The excuses begin to flow. This is a mentality that we have to get rid of immediately. We must look at all of our choices because they do exist; it’s whether or not we choose to look for our choices.

Let me tell you about a young, brave boy who has mastered the art of looking at the options. I teach high school in Nebraska. Last year, a ninth-grader at our school was diagnosed with bone cancer. He went through chemotherapy. He was tutored at home by one of the teachers. He had to undergo surgery. Throughout this entire process, he never lost hope that he would get better. He chose to have a good attitude and be positive. He chose to tell himself that he still had a life to live. He never gave up on himself or his life. It would have been so easy for someone so young to give up and live life as if it was already over.

He overcame his cancer. However, during a check-up, the doctor found a spot on his lung that was worrisome. They did a biopsy and determined that it was indeed cancerous. He and his family are going through the same process again currently. He still keeps his head up and refuses to let himself be a victim of fate, life, or whatever you want to call it.

We need to live as this young boy does. As a tenth-grader now, he is struggling with a life-threatening illness that no one his age should have to deal with. However, he found his options. He could have played the victim of circumstance or create memories for the lifetime that he has.

We all have these choices. Some of us have had some horrible things happen to us in our lives. How we chose to deal with them is our strongest asset. There is always a choice there. That is something we can control. Once we take stock in our own responses to our everyday occurrences, it is much easier to take a look and see that other options truly do exist. You lost a job? This doesn’t mean go home and sit on the couch. If you can’t find another job in your field, either find another field or create your own business. Your boyfriend or girlfriend broke up with you? Try to understand that while you will hurt for a little while, it wasn’t meant to be, leaving you open to find the one who was meant for you. Until then, spend some time with your amazing friends and family.

Many of us go through life-changing events, not typically life-ending events such as the boy I wrote about earlier. He is facing death at the age of 15, and he manages to do what adults fail to do with many more years experience– chose.