The Doesn't Effect You. You Effect The Environment

One of the most common things I hear is:

"This person affected me."

"My partner made me feel this way."

"My children stress me out."

"My parents caused this."

"My upbringing is the reason I'm like this."

"My ancestors passed this on to me."

"Work is affecting me."

"The weather ruined my day."

"It's raining."

"It's too windy."

"The economy is affecting me."

"That conversation changed everything."

The list is endless.

People often explain their lives through people, places, things, and situations.

But let's stop for a moment and ask a different question.

What is an environment?

An environment is made up of people, places, things, situations, conversations, relationships, weather, expectations, challenges, opportunities, and experiences. These are the external conditions we move through every single day.

Our senses are constantly receiving information from them.

We see.

We hear.

We feel.

We observe.

And without realising it, we begin believing that everything outside of us has the power to determine everything happening inside of us.

But does it?

Or have we simply become accustomed to giving everything outside ourselves authority over who we are?

People will always have opinions.

Some will support you.

Some will reject you.

Some will misunderstand you.

The weather will change.

Money will come and go.

Relationships will begin and end.

Work will have good days and difficult days.

Children will challenge you.

Parents will have influenced you.

Life will continue presenting different people, places, things, and situations.

None of those are within complete control.

What remains within your control is whether you allow them to define you.

If your identity changes every time your circumstances change, then your identity is not your own.

It belongs to whatever is happening around you.

If another person's words determine your worth, then your worth has been placed in their hands.

If the weather determines your mood, then your peace depends on the forecast.

If your past completely determines your future, then your future never has the opportunity to become something different.

Knowing who you are changes the relationship you have with the world around you.

You stop asking,

"Who did this to me?"

You begin asking,

"Who am I regardless of what is happening around me?"

That question changes everything.

Because people will continue being people.

Situations will continue changing.

Life will continue moving.

The environment will never stop changing.

The objective is not to control the environment.

The objective is not to become dependent on it.

The objective is to know yourself so clearly that your identity is no longer negotiated by every person, place, thing, or situation you encounter.

When you know who you are, you no longer hand your identity to your circumstances.

You remain grounded in your values.

Grounded in your decisions.

Grounded in your direction.

Not because the world became easier—

but because you stopped allowing the world to decide who you are.

When you know who you are, nothing outside of you has the authority to define you.