Today I Choose

There are many time when I don’t want to make a choice. I don’t like to have to make decisions because I want a bit of it all. It’s always a dilemma to decide what to wear to work: I often change outfits multiple times. I couldn’t decide which dress to wear for the photo shoot last week: I ended up bringing three spare dresses, shoes, and jewelry!  I can’t decide which flowers to plant each spring: I usually end up buying multiple varieties. When I go shopping, I have a hard time deciding which shoes to buy because I like them all. This is primarily why I shop thrift stores. I can buy several pair!   Right now, I’m in the process of making big decisions about my personal and professional life; some which are downright difficult.

My reluctance to make decisions likely is rooted in some psychological things of which I know little about; probably something about fear to fail or not wanting to make a poor decision because I was taught that “you made the bed; you lie in it”.  Perhaps it comes from the reality that decisions lead to change and change is unsettling at times. Maybe it comes from ‘not wanting to ever hurt anyone’s feelings or cause another to be left out’ when the choices involve people. Or even the realization that the choices that are best for me might disappoint another.  I’d like to be noble and think that it comes from some admirable characteristic like “seeing goodness in everything” but when it comes to clothes, shoes, and STUFF, that’s not admirable; it’s cluttering and crippling.  It’s also that tendency that resulted in the four stray cats that share my home with me!  Who knows…but in any case, I’ve come to realize that in some things, “I don’t have to choose,” but in other things, CHOICE, even when it’s painful and frightening, is necessary for growth and change.

I’m tabling my big decisions for the bit and instead am going to focus on ATTITUDE and HABITS.  Each day we are given the choice to make it a good day….or not.  We are not always given the option to choose the things that happen to us, but we are given the privilege of choosing how we react to them. Do we say, “Oh, poor me” or “Well, there must be some kind of lesson here that God is trying to teach me”? We are not given a choice about the weather, but we are often given a choice about where we live, and certainly, how we deal with it.  Do we mope and cry when it “rains on parade” or do we “dance in the rain”? We are not always given the choice about the crosses that we are asked to bear, but we are given the choice to ask God to help us carry it. 

Today…. I am not ready to make some of the decisions weighing on me, so I am choosing to sit with them; pray about them; think about them.  Perhaps “NO CHOICE” will be my choice!  However, I am ready to make a decision to CHOOSE to be grateful ….that I have so many options…..so many opportunities…..so many blessings.  I am going to make a choice to be happy and try to find the best in each situation and person I encounter. I am going to choose to treat my body as the miracle it is by fueling it with good, nutritious food rather than junk. I am going to choose HOPE over despair, love over hatred, joy over sadness, and peace over anxiety.

What kind of choices are you going to make today?????