May 2008

You chose to stop by & I thank you! I chose to write & you may even thank me. Our gratitude is for each other’s choices, if also for each other.. It’s choice for which we should be thankful & no doubt assume we are. Are we using our choices, though? Like gratitude & love, to be effective, choice needs to be proactive. Choices alone don’t bring about results &, left alone, still lead to change but not of our making. We have to own our choices, appreciate them.

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want,
and all that is left is compromise.”
~ Robert Fritz ~

“When you have to make a choice and don’t make it,
that is in itself a choice.”
~ William James ~

What we do or don’t do with our choices affects the next set of possibilities we create. How empowering is that?! Not only are there any number of possibilities available to us at all times but we can change them up, often increasing our options in the process, with each choice we make. The choices we make passively — through inaction or hesitance — change up the mix too. Wouldn’t you rather choose the direction your choices are taking you?

“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back,
and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”
~ Buddha ~

“Remember, there are no mistakes, only lessons. Love yourself, trust your choices, and everything is possible.”
~ Cherie Carter-Scott ~

Fear of failure is a natural inclination & the typical cause of hesitation. Whereas hesitation can be prudent, make sure it’s by choice & not a result of being afraid to act. Life choices require planning thus slow & steady will bring those larger choices to fruition. During the process, there are day to day choices that can support the larger one. Brett, who I’ve mentioned, has taken such a journey on & the comment thread his announcement inspires covers great ground.

“I chose and my world was shaken. So what? The choice may have been mistaken; the choosing was not. You have to move on.”
~ Stephen Sondheim ~

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.”
~ Denis Waitley ~

Choices factor into everything we do, how we feel & how we feel about what we’re doing. Turning a blind eye to anything but the obvious choices undermines the additional potential each choice has. A snow-covered driveway is a good example as you could choose to simply shovel yet you could also make snow-angels. Consider making angels then shoveling or break up the shoveling with a snowball fight. Notice the bonus that you’re also less likely to work alone.

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”
~ William A. Foster ~

“There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.”
~ Henry David Thoreau ~

As we weave our choices together to create experiences we want & develop opportunities we’re interested in, we explore our own empowerment & learn to construct days that are never wasted by establishing new baselines. Accepting each choice, every mistake, the chosen failures as uniquely ours reveals them as the lessons & stepping stones they always had the potential to be. Appreciate choices that led to better ones & those that were right in their moment.

“Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose,
to respond, to change.”
~ Stephen R. Covey ~

“It is our choices that show what we truly are,
far more than our abilities.”
~ J. K. Rowling ~

Don’t leave well enough alone; heed what you’re feeling & either express it or act on it. It’s choice that makes our lives our own & it can’t help but improve them. From attitude-adjustments to full overhauls, by actively choosing, we’re learning to live in the moment yet that concept is often misunderstood. It’s not so much the creation of happy lives as effective ones that taking charge of our moments allows us. We’re able to choose how we feel but only if we first choose to feel thus to live.

“Life is not a continuum of pleasant choices, but of inevitable problems that call for strength, determination, and hard work.”
~ Indian Proverb ~

(|_|*cheers*|_|)
“Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing,
I would choose pain.”
~ William Faulkner ~

PS: I’m choosing to make these quote-filled posts a regular happening.

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