One of the great things about being human is our ability to choose. I have been faced with this reality very often lately, it seems. From putting off assignments to spending time with my children to believing a new Professor about his view on choices....I, like all of us, have made a lot of good and bad choices lately.
We have the power to choose our attitudes, behaviors, and feelings. While we don't always have a choice about an event, we can choose how we react to the event and how we feel about it. For instance, it may not be someone's choice to be single. However, feeling lonely because one is single is, in fact, a choice.
Having a positive outlook is a choice. I know someone who is currently battling breast cancer. While she had no control over whether or not to get breast cancer (I assume she would have politely declined) she has chosen to remain positive throughout the treatment and healing process. I told her recently that she is my hero! I simply love that she not complained about being tired or feeling sick...not one time...during this rough period in her life. I only wonder if I could be so strong.
I want to be thinner. However, I just chose to eat a brownie covered in fudgey icing and walnuts. That isn't going to help the scale go down. I know this. No one forced me to do it, but I did. I can't blame genetics or my crazy busy schedule for being overweight. Every morning I choose to hit snooze instead of getting up and going to a gym...then I reward myself with brownies! I have no right to complain because I am making poor choices about my diet and exercise.
Some choices are easy. Others are extremely difficult. Let's consider for a moment the person who is feeling depressed and hopeless...which I claim (very boldly) are choices. That person has a very difficult decision to make: when do I seek help? Once that person decides to get help, there is a very long & difficult road to recovery. Choosing to get help and choosing to stay the course are, in turn, choosing that person's fate. I would even argue that the same is true for an alcoholic or an addict. Choose to have another drink or choose to go to a meeting. I know a couple people who made the hard choice and are thankful each day for doing so. They chose to save their lives.
Every thing we do every day is a choice. The clothes we wear, the food we eat, the people and opinions we listen to, the way we feel about our circumstance, the way we deal with a problem, the way we talk to our children, whether we laugh or cry. I'm glad that it's up to me and me alone. I have the power to choose.
We have the power to choose our attitudes, behaviors, and feelings. While we don't always have a choice about an event, we can choose how we react to the event and how we feel about it. For instance, it may not be someone's choice to be single. However, feeling lonely because one is single is, in fact, a choice.
Having a positive outlook is a choice. I know someone who is currently battling breast cancer. While she had no control over whether or not to get breast cancer (I assume she would have politely declined) she has chosen to remain positive throughout the treatment and healing process. I told her recently that she is my hero! I simply love that she not complained about being tired or feeling sick...not one time...during this rough period in her life. I only wonder if I could be so strong.
I want to be thinner. However, I just chose to eat a brownie covered in fudgey icing and walnuts. That isn't going to help the scale go down. I know this. No one forced me to do it, but I did. I can't blame genetics or my crazy busy schedule for being overweight. Every morning I choose to hit snooze instead of getting up and going to a gym...then I reward myself with brownies! I have no right to complain because I am making poor choices about my diet and exercise.
Some choices are easy. Others are extremely difficult. Let's consider for a moment the person who is feeling depressed and hopeless...which I claim (very boldly) are choices. That person has a very difficult decision to make: when do I seek help? Once that person decides to get help, there is a very long & difficult road to recovery. Choosing to get help and choosing to stay the course are, in turn, choosing that person's fate. I would even argue that the same is true for an alcoholic or an addict. Choose to have another drink or choose to go to a meeting. I know a couple people who made the hard choice and are thankful each day for doing so. They chose to save their lives.
Every thing we do every day is a choice. The clothes we wear, the food we eat, the people and opinions we listen to, the way we feel about our circumstance, the way we deal with a problem, the way we talk to our children, whether we laugh or cry. I'm glad that it's up to me and me alone. I have the power to choose.
