Contributing Factors

The best way to collapse all hope for happiness is to confuse contributing and determining factors. If you make contributing factors your determining factors you lose the ability to be content.

Let’s suppose a bird shits on your head this morning. [Contributing Factor]

As a result, you believe your day is ruined. [Determining Factor]

The contributing factor is the objective event of a bird defecating and gravity doing its job. The subjective interpretation of the contributing factor determines how it affects you.

Please remember, the external occurrence only has the power you give it.

Hat Tip to Myron Golden