Your choice. 

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”      ― Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

Well said. 

In the grand scheme of life, things happen, and all we can do is our best during, throughout and thereafter.  Now that being said, we can elect to be defined by those events – or – we  can choose to define them. By standing up to the challenges, looking them in the eye and telling them without reservation;  “I got this”. 

Whomever I tend to,  many may have tended to reflect the same line of thought and being: that though things happen, you must rise up to meet them head on. They might get the best of you at first – a function of  surprise, fear and diffidence. 

And yet, you still retain the right to respond in your fashion, via choice. 

So, you can decide to be reduced.  

Or, not. 

Your choice.