St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading at Mass, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4)

In another letter, St. Paul tells us to “take every thought captive to Christ.”

It is hard to overestimate the power of our thoughts on our outlook, our motivation, our energy level.

We can choose to nurture thoughts of anger, victimization, self-pity, doubt, and selfishness. We can choose to focus on what WE want, what WE would choose. We can choose to dwell on all the ways we and our lives fall short of what we think we should be and should have.

We can choose to pridefully demand and expect levels of perfection from ourselves, and others, that our fallen human nature is not capable of here.

Or we can choose to nurture thoughts of gratitude. We can choose to focus on the needs of others. We can choose to pray for the grace to shift our perspective to the things of the kingdom of heaven rather than the kingdom of earth.

We can choose to hold ourselves accountable for our moral faults and failures while also remembering the mercy, patience, and grace of God, which will guard us from despair.

It’s up to us.