You cannot change the past by blaming yourself, your ancestors, or anyone else. But you can change the future if you decide to use today to affect tomorrow. Construct a way of escape that enables you to move beyond the perpetuation of pathological habits that result from pointing the finger at others.

It is important to know that we were created to be leaders, innately and instinctively. Humans are leaders, exceeding any other living being. Birds still use their original mode of transportation, animals still walk on all fours, snakes still crawl, only man consistently improves the world, moving from the horse and buggy to the three-hundred-horsepower engine. We are the only species that continues to work on ourselves. We fly because we decided we were too busy to walk. We have telephones because we decided we were tired of screaming across the street. We have iPods because we decided that CDs were to fragile, cassettes too destructible, eight tracks too cumbersome. We keep changing our world because we decide we can make it better. You have the power to evolve, transform, develop, relocate, rebuild, reinvent, or do whatever else is necessary to achieve your goals. But nothing will happen or change in your situation until you decide you wan it to.

Excerpt is taken from Bishop Jakes’ book, Making Great Decisions; Before You Blame Accept Responsibility – Decide to Change, Not Blame – page 44.