The two sons of the drunken father

This story was revealed by Dr. Hans Selye, internationally renowned Canadian physician and scientist and it has been told and retold countless times;

Two young boys were raised by an alcoholic father. As they grew older, they moved away from that broken home, each going his own way in the world.

Several years later, they happened to be interviewed separately by a psychologist who was analyzing the effects of drunkenness on children in broken homes. His research revealed that the two men were strikingly different from each other.

One was a clean-living teetotaler; the other, a hopeless drunk like his father. The psychologist asked each of them why he developed the way he did, and each gave an identical answer,

"What else would you expect when you have a father like mine?"

This story demonstrates a cardinal rule implicit in human behavior. According to R. H. Schuller, "It is not what happens to you in life that makes the difference. It is how you react to each circumstance you encounter that determines the result. Every human being in the same situation has the possibilities of choosing how he will react — either positively or negatively."