Friday, August 24, 2007

What Are Your Choices?

Do you ever wonder how you ended up where you are today?

Whether you are successful beyond measure, continuing to push toward your dreams, falling short of where you wish you were, or taking steps backwards into a reality you don't want to experience, it all comes down to a simple word.

CHOICE.

We live in a world which encourages us to escape our right to make choices, and trains us to become passive to the choices others make for us. We talk about what our parents did to us, or our teachers, or our spouses, or some other outside force. What we rarely discuss is our responsibility, in fact, our POWER, to choose our response.

If we have been victimized, it is our choice to remain a victim, or to move on with our life. If we have been mistreated, it is our choice to continue submitting to the treatment, or remove ourselves from the situation.

If we are rich and successful, this is also a result of our choices. Even were we an heir or heiress, we choose to stay liquid vs. blowing the money.

Invariably, it is not those at the extremes that truly battle with the concept of choice. It is the 95 percent of the world somewhere in the middle. Those not quite where they want to be. Those facing the normal struggles of life: a bad boss, a tough marriage, rough health issues. Risks of expansion, quitting a job, or taking a new job.

We say "I can't do" whatever it is that would change our situation, and blame it on circumstances - our family, our bills, our government, sometimes even our religion. So we don't do. And ultimately, that is a CHOICE. Inaction is as much a choice as action.

Don't waste your POWER. Your right to live as you choose. To think what you want to think. To be who you want to be.

You are your CHOICE.