Choose You This Day

Choice. What choices do we have and what do we do with these choices? We can ponder endlessly how much life is predetermined, how we are limited by heredity, intellect, social status, environment, economics. That is not the issue here; nor do I believe that it is important. However limited the choices, what matters is what we do with the choices we have. 

I believe we have a great deal of choice; that most of us do not make the most of these choices and that we tend to live our lives based on other people’s decisions and expectations. I believe that too often we lack the courage to act on our decisions. I believe this freedom to choose is one of the most important aspects of our lives, and that to act responsibly on those choices determines the success or failure of our lives. 

All choice combines freedom with responsibility; they are inseparable. We pay a price for all our decisions and our indecisions, but we have the individual freedom to determine for ourselves when the price is too high. 

Each day bring new opportunities for choice. Each day brings countless decisions to be made. I submit that all choices matter and that the potential for a better life is all around us. It is by the choices we make – the large, the small, the important, and the seemingly trivial, that we determine who we are and the quality of our lives. I believe we become the sum of our choices. 

Let’s talk about choice and some of the areas in which we can exercise our freedom to choose. 

We can choose love. We can decide who matters in our life; we can nurture the relationships we care about. We can make time for the people we love. We can find new people to love. 

Choose to have more love in your life. 

We can choose health – both mental and physical. Again, we choose not from our limitations, but from the freedom we do have. We can choose not to abuse our bodies, how we spend our days. We can choose not to whine about imagined aches and pains. 

Choose good health. 

We can choose to be happy. If you are unhappy, it is your fault. It is your responsibility, no one else’s. If you permit someone to make you unhappy, you choose to do so. I believe we are most influenced by other people in this area; only you know what makes you happiest. 

Choose to be happy. 

We can choose to have fun, to be spontaneous. We can choose to dream. In the words from South Pacific, “If you don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?” 

Dream your own dream. 

I would persuade you to make choices and have the courage to act on those choices. Remember that choice means to select the best part, to discard that which is not. I would persuade you to make deletions in your life. If someone consistently makes you uncomfortable or unhappy, why are they a part of your life? If you are unhappy with your life, are you looking for ways to make it better? 

Choose what you want in your life and what you do not. 

All choices involve responsibility for those choices. We have to pay our dues. I believe in choice for myself. I believe in choice for other people. I believe we have the right and the freedom to make our own decisions – not from selfish motivations, but from our own uniqueness and integrity. 

We become the sum of our choices. It is your choice..... 

- Jean Cole Stayton