Ahh! the beautiful privilege of having the chance to be able to make choices. So many of us in the world go through life without knowing this privilege and so many of us wish at times that we didn’t have to make so many of them.
Everyday we make choices. We choose to get out of bed, to have a shower, to eat certain foods, to drink coke or water, to eat the 5000 calorie dessert or a piece of fruit, to wear a certain dress or outfit, to exercise, to be lazy, to meditate, to reflect, to accept, to reject, to love, to hate, to help, to ignore, to stop and think, to buy something, to save money, to study, to learn, to invest in ourselves, to invest in others, to be curious, to develop, to stay the same, to live, and to remain disconnected with the reality within our heart.
You see today we are the sum of all of our choices. Yes we could have had a very difficult start in life, however it is our choice if we continue to live by the effects of this. Most of our lives are the consequences of our choices though we can choose to blame others for them, the reality is that we are the ones who are responsible. Just like we are the only ones that can do something about them.
It is true that sometimes we make the wrong choices and there is nothing wrong with this as it is part of doing life as a normal human being. As well as being the way we accumulate experience in life as good decisions come from experience and experience comes from making bad ones. The important thing is that we are not paralyzed and become fearful of making choices in the future because we have missed some as indecision often with time becomes a decision itself.
Our choices too, can often, be influenced by the expectations we think others have of us. We seek to please and make those that matter in our lives happy by the choices we make. Yet, often the problem with this approach is that though they are happy we in turn become miserable over time, because we are the ones that have to live with the consequences of the choices we made in order to please them. Life will be much simpler if there isn’t so many others on your mind to please and keep happy when it comes to making choices for yourself.
Like the guy in this wonderful video clip, what is it that you chose in order to make someone else happy in the past that now stops you from leading a purposeful, fulfilling, and enjoyable life? What is it that caused you to train your mind and heart to make the choices you continue to make when deep down inside yourself, you know they are not the ones you really want to make? Always remember that decisions become easier when your will to align yourself with God outweighs your will to align yourself with the expectations of the world.
I believe that it is important that we realize that just because our family or close friends make or made certain choices in life it doesn’t mean that we have to as well. Choices don’t have to be generational or a transfer from the ones that went before us. We can choose to start again and make the kind of choices that will bring us different consequences than the ones they live and experienced. Remember that it is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped and carved out. Consult your heart and listen to it as within it is the blueprint of the path that was planned for you by the one who made you and gave you the gifts to complete your journey well.
I encourage you next time a choice has to be made that you choose not to run away from it as choices not only have the potential to change your life but they can also help you grow as a person.
Remember your future will be built one choice at a time, whether is a good or bad one, nevertheless it will be built as this is what happens when you follow the God of grace.
-pablo-
