“Our lives are a sum total of the choices we have made.” Wayne Dyer
I wrote recently, “we constantly face an infinite possibility of thought” and it is our responsibility to choose one of those thoughts in order to actualize it.
Conscious Choices
For years I have been enamored with making “conscious choices.” There is something about the word conscious that connotes a grand sense of intention and purposefulness for what becomes of my day-to-day and my future. It falls in line with that wonderful idea (and responsibility) of free will.
When you think about it, your day is composed of making choices constantly—what to read, eat, watch on TV; when to sleep, what restaurant to visit, which clothes to wear; personally I have to choose when to work and when to pray. I can choose kindness and patience. I guess this list could be almost limitless.
Condemned by the Choices of Others
And yet, in the midst of our freedom to choose, we still feel condemned by outside influences and the impacts that others seem to make on our behalf, like spouses or bosses or, dare I say, government. Even then, however, I propose that we have a choice of how we wish to respond—it’s just that, often, those kinds of choices can also come with negative consequences. Accepting those consequences is once again a choice.
Life is Not an Accident
When I think of the choices I have made in my life: where to went to college, when to quit to become a full-time hippie, where to chose to do my work as a businessperson, minister, consultant, baseball coach, and very active volunteer. Each one of those choices resulted in immediate impact on my life.
But, in older age, I now see that each one of those choices made me who I am today. Each of those choices provided me with knowledge, experience, and a greater sense of wisdom. I am who I am today largely because of the choices I have made throughout my life.
Guess what? I still continue to make choices today that have both immediate and future implications. Each and every one of those choices determines my unique identity. It is essential, therefore, to assume the responsibility for my own life. I am (and will be) a sum total of the choices I have made.
Want a Great Life in Ten Years?
Begin with the Choices You Make Today
Photo courtesy of BackyardProduction at istockphoto
