7 Habits Discussion

Wow, does anyone else feel a little out of their league?? Maybe I'm just not as well read as I thought I was, but this book is kinda hard to get through!
I love, love, loved the foreword!! (Copyright 2004 with new foreword by the author). One of the things I most enjoyed was Covey's descriptions of the most common human challenges that we face. He seemed to reflect my thoughts as of late when he said, "Society is addicted to playing the victim... Blaming everyone and everything else for our problems and challenges... chains us to these very problems. Show me someone who is humble enough to accept and take responsibility for his or her circumstances and courageous enough to take whatever initiative is necessary to creatively work his or her way through or around these challenges, and I'll show you the supreme power of choice."
Now I'm not trying to say I don't ever play the victim. In fact, it is probably the case that I do it quite often and that is what has brought my attention to this problem in life. I find it hard, when everyone around me seems to be making excuses for themselves, denying blame, and/or playing the victim, to tell myself the truth about my faults and and mistakes and realize that "I am the creative force in my life."
What a powerful statement! Do any of us really realize the truthfulness in that? We (our thoughts and actions) truly are the force behind what creates our life. What we choose to do every minute of every day is what makes our life what it is. If only we could really, truly understand that, what kind of people would we be? What kind of world would it be if every person was striving to be their own creative force, to control their own destiny. Instead we live in a world filled with Hopelessness, as Covey puts it, "when we succumb to believing that we are victims of our circumstances and yield to the plight of determinism, we lose hope, we lose drive, and we settle into resignation and stagnation."
I guess our problem is, how do we get out of the grasp of hopelessness? Especially when we are so tightly wrapped up in it? I'm hoping that is one thing this book will teach us. It will give us tools, proven throughout history, that will help us to rise above the norm, that will help us develop a clear sense of our priorities, desires, and missions in life. These tools, when put into action will create for us not a life of Blame, victimism, and hopelessness, but one of focus, integrity and one where we have given ourselves "the supreme power of choice" over who and what we will become.