Every Moment Presents a Choice

The new year is upon us.

But today, rather than reflect on the prior year or plans for the future, I think we could use a reminder of a power we have always had.

That is the power to choose the direction of our lives, every moment of every day.

Sure, there is a life path we have found ourselves on through having created it, stumbled upon it, or found ourselves in it through necessity.

For better or worse, this is the reality of our lives.

Yet we always have choices.

A thought that has occurred to me is that many of us don’t truly understand the number of choices available to us in a given day.

Consider this: A dear friend once criticized me upon realizing that in a day we spent together, he had made every decision about what we did. He got tired of it, and he asked me:

Have you even made a single choice today?

His question made me realize that every moment of that day had presented me with a choice. I could go along the easy route with the path unfolding before me, or I could fight against it.

Neither way is necessarily better than the other, but that is the key, predominant choice of our lives. Flow along with the stream of destiny, or work to create your own path.

I explained to my friend that I had made countless choices that day, all of which involved doing what he wanted to do and spending time with him. Even in that moment of discussion, I had chosen to continue our conversation rather than part ways.

Every moment is a choice.

It so happens that with me, when everything is going well, I don’t fight the path in front of me. I allow it to unfold as it does, to take me where it flows, but I am still choosing that.

But what about when your life’s path presents more and more obstacles, and you dread what lies ahead?

In such cases, we must use the power we have to make a choice.

Even if you made a mistake, and for 100 moments in a day, you chose to continue along a futile, unrewarding, miserable path, you still have the power at any moment to change that.

Every moment of every day gives you the opportunity to change it all around.

Even when it comes to mental states – if, in the course of a day, you find yourself unhappy and bored, you can ask what choices led you to that. And if you make new choices in a different direction, can you begin to find the happiness and stimulation that you need?

Taking things further, even our beliefs about ourselves or the world, and thus the emotional states that may follow can be a choice.

Here is a belief some people may hold:

I believe I have little power, and my life’s path has been decided by my parents, the government, or society.

The issue with that belief would be that it completely nullifies your ability to choose your life’s path. If you are willing to accept your power of choice in every moment of every day and do something with it, then you have that power in you.

However, if you are not willing to accept that you have that power, then you do not have it. You have taken your own power away, then.

Consider this: How many choices or opportunities for change do we get in the course of a day?

Let’s say a moment is equal to a second. Then that would mean that in your waking hours, or 16 hours, there are 57,600 moments where you can make a choice. That is quite a few….

Those are 57,600 opportunities where you can choose to continue along a path or to seek a new one. To use your own judgment or pursue a mentor to guide you. To rely on the same habitual ways of believing and behaving or to pave a new path of being. To value time and use it wisely, or waste it on nonsense. To help yourself or another, or help no one.

Even to reflect on your choices or not, or to write down what you have learned or not are choices you get to make.

The choices are seemingly infinite. Yet there is always a choice.

Of course, it’s easier to blame others and say they are at fault for the setbacks in our lives. And perhaps other people are at fault, to some extent. But complaining, obsessing, or stressing about that does nothing for your progress.

In fact, if you get hung up on how others are at fault, you are the one who has chosen to delay your own life’s progress.

So, of course, we must avoid that and accept our power to choose every moment of every day.

How can you use your power of choice?:

When your time is being wasted, with nothing to gain from it, choose to use it on something more beneficial. Or at least decide to avoid such wasted time in the future.

When you are disrespected and unappreciated, choose to pursue better people to spend your time with.

When you have been treated unjustly, choose to speak up rather than ignore the issue.

When you have made horrible mistakes, choose to learn and improve.

When someone needs help, choose to help if you can.

Choose to see the good in people and situations and not just the bad that is there.

Some of us who do not use our power of choice may not know what we want. In that case, we should reflect on what we believe to be truly important.

For example: Family, Peace, Success, Love, Happiness, Mastery, Knowledge, Awareness, Service, Giving, Truth, and so on. What is most important to you?

Then ask, are your choices helping you to create the life you ultimately want to live? And are you taking advantage of all the choices available to you at every moment in time?

Of course, the point here is not to get overwhelmed with so many choices, as who really needs 57,600 choices? The point is this:

Realize that every moment of your life is a moment of true possibility, where your life can begin to unfold in a new direction of your choosing.

What better time to reflect on that, and to truly understand it and make it a way of life, than the new year, here and now….

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Take Ownership Over Your Life

Know that whatever situation you are in, you played a crucial role in getting yourself there.

There is no other way. You are you. Who else got you to the here and now?

In your life’s path…

Whether there were major setbacks that you regretted or not,

Whether you learned and changed and grew from those or not,

Whether you listened to the good advice that came your way or not,

And whether you listened to the bad advice that came your way or not.

Either way, the common denominator was YOU,

You were the one who chose whether to act in a certain way or not,

Whether to believe in something or not,

Whether to follow someone or not,

Whether to be proactive or reactive,

Whether to seek betterment or not,

Whether to seek praise, riches, comfort, love, or safety,

Whether to be truthful or not.

What we often failed to realize in life was that…

We chose to continue along a path,

Or to get off of it and pave a new one,

Or to let others take us on whatever road they had in mind for us,

Either way, we chose this for ourselves.

We had the power to choose or to give up this power to someone else.

We are happy to take the praise when things work out,

But quick to blame others when they don’t,

Rather, we must own it all, as both good and bad will tend to pour out from our decisions.

There is no sense in blaming those who advised you, as they could not know the full extent of who you are and your life’s situation.

And in the end, you made your own decision.

Also, you chose your advisors - did you choose them well?

You would be happy to reap the rewards for yourself, so take any negative consequence, own it, and aim to make it right.

In owning what has gone wrong, you can begin to see through it, regain your power, and find a better path.

Many of us assume that power means power over others,

But the one with power over their own life is quite rare,

True power is to realize every moment of the day that we have the option,

To focus on what we can or can’t do,

To stay or go,

To fight or flee,

To argue or accept,

To act or reflect,

To take action based on need or want,

To speak or listen,

To lead or follow,

To love or hate,

To focus on what limits us, or what frees us.

To pursue or to be content.

We all have this power.

Of course, what is right for you will depend on your circumstance, experience, and goals.

If we are at the whims of people, emotions, and impulsiveness, then we have relinquished our power.

This is a power we always had and that we may have chosen to give away.

In such a case, we can prepare to regain it.

Regardless of what is going on in the world around us, we have power,

The power to think, learn, grow, change, and make the best choices for ourselves.

Take ownership over your life,

Own the situations that you find yourself in,

For you have played a role in creating them,

Own the good and bad that come from your life’s choices,

Seek to help and be helped by others but at the end of the day,

Take ownership over your life,

Your thoughts, actions, beliefs, and desires,

To do otherwise is a denial of what is.

Remember this:

You are the instrument and player,

The song and singer,

The pilot and passenger,

The thought, and thinker,

The being and spirit,

The writer and written,

The gift and giver.