The Power of Choice
Gail Goodwin © 2006

Why do I keep sabotaging myself? How do I make better choices? Why are some people luckier than others? Do we have a choice?

Every moment is a fork in the road. Each one represents an opportunity for to us to make a wiser choice, or to change our minds. We can choose to empower ourselves with this information. Or we can ignore it completely and remain dis-empowered.

If our lives are not working the way we want them to, then if nothing else, we can choose a different way to look at things. Even if we have no money, no job and no friends, we still have the power to choose our attitude and our response to our situation.

But how did we get into this situation in the first place? Why don’t I ever have enough money? Why am I out of work? Where are all my friends?

Life is about two things: choice and consequence. It depends which one you deal with first.

Life is about choice:
Too much choice. Not enough choice. Even no choice at all.
We can make a choice and do nothing. We can make a choice and do something. It’s still our choice. We look at our options. Eat the chocolate or eat the fruit. Exercise or stay in bed. Spend money or save money. We make our decision, take action and then deal with the consequences, good or bad. Sounds like fate. Or luck. It’s much harder to undo what has already been done if we don’t like what we’ve created.

Life is about consequences and choice:
We look at the possible consequences of the decisions we are about to make. Eat the chocolate: get fat. Or eat the fruit: stay healthy. Exercise: become fitter. Or stay in bed: feel guilty. Spend money: can’t pay the gas bill. Or save money: get a house deposit. It all sounds so obvious, but we wouldn’t be fat, unfit, guilty or poor if we had a grip on the situation.

Thinking about the consequences first, means our decisions are actually a conscious response, rather than a knee-jerk reaction. Decisions made with awareness are based on the options we have available at the time, taking into account what is good for all concerned. It’s the most we can do and it’s all we can do. We’ve acknowledged the consequences before we’ve taken action, rather than find out later when we have to pick up the pieces.  We’ve made our decision then taken action. We’ve dealt with the possible consequences first, instead of last. Sounds like destiny.

Managing our destiny begins with the little decisions in life. Do you remember the old saying, take care of the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves? This metaphor demonstrates how our little decisions have a huge impact on our lives, far more than we think. What are the pennies then?

Do you say yes when you know you need to say no? Do you go to bed late when you know you need to get an early night? Do you stay home when you know you need to go to that family get together? If these are the pennies, then what are the pounds?

If you say no, then you’ve stood up for yourself. You’ve set your boundaries, gained respect and you’ve maintained your self esteem. You’ve gained a pound of self esteem instead of a pound of flesh.

If you go to bed early, you wake up refreshed. You’re ready to start the day with enthusiasm. You’re a joy to be around. It’s contagious.

If you go to that family get together, your brother-in-law introduces you to a friend he’s brought along with him. You meet your future business partner.

We can live life the easy way but most of us do it the hard way. It really depends on which way we look at it.  Turn our perspective around and we’ve turned our lives around. Life is about visualising consequences and then making better choices based this.

Wisdom requires three things: intuition, knowledge and experience. Most people think they are not intuitive. If I make choices based on what I need to do for the highest good of all concerned then I’ve engaged my intuition. Balance intuition with knowledge, marry it with experience and we’ve tapped into the power of wisdom.

Gail Goodwin
www.bodysoulspirit.com.au