The power of choice. Something we were all given as we were brought into this world. We have the power of choice in our friendships, relationships, and every other decision we make is through our power to choose. We make decisions every single day, from what shoes to wear to the decision to spontaneously skip class, a choice is a choice, and we make hundreds, if not more, a day. I think that we often forget the power of a choice and all of the implications it has on our lives. The truth is that more often than not our everyday choices turn into patterns. Patterns are defined as imitations, so these are going to be the decisions we make over and over again and most of the time we do not even realize how damaging these patterns can be. Without the power of choice, we would become lifeless robots without a purpose; how can we use our power to choose to make better patterns in our lives? There are a few things that need to happen, evaluate life choices and patterns, where will you end up if these patterns continue, and initiate change.
Everyone should evaluate their life and the decisions they have made. Are where you thought you would be by now? Did you think that things would be different? Why are things not progressing? It is okay to ask yourself these questions, because if you are not happy with where you are currently and cannot figure out how you got here, well you need to start asking the bigger questions. Everyone is human, so perfectness is not possible. It is okay to make mistakes, however, the purpose of mistakes is to learn from them and move on. The purpose of a mistake is not to make the same one over and over again. Patterns have this funny quality about them…they will follow you wherever you go. Why? I had to learn about this all on my own, because I may not have realized that I chose to go out of state for school to run from my patterns. What I came to realize is my patterns in friends and work ethic traveled over 500 miles with me to Arizona. I was so confused why the same issues were arising in my life, and I could not figure out what I was doing wrong. I may have moved states, made new friends, got a new job, started at a new school, but all of my choices remained the same. Therefore, my outcome was the same.
If I continued through life with the same patterns I was carrying around a few years ago, I would be more heart-broken, sad, lonely, confused, and angry person. Everyone is different, and not everyone has bad patterns; however, if anyone is not happy with the outcome of their life they should seriously consider their patterns. Some patterns that I had to personally change for me were work ethic, time management, boundaries, confrontation, and a few others. Sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom to realize we need to change, but it also does not have to be that difficult. If we think about our life in 50 years, who is sitting around you? If we carry out our unhealthy patterns of pushing people away, being selfish, closed off, closed minded, into our futures no one will be around to care for us. Are the choices we are making today for our own personal gain, or are we trying to love and serve others? The choices we make in our day-to-day will affect our future, and we have the opportunity to allow it to positively influence our future.
How do we initiate the change? Well, pin-point all the areas in your life where you see yourself making bad choices that lead to your patterns, and slowly make new choices. Stop going out with the one group of friends that always gets you into trouble. Or maybe you always approach conflict the wrong way, so maybe try approaching conflict from another angle that is more open-minded about others. Whatever it is you think needs to be changed, just try and see if there is a better option, because I do know there is always more than one solution. The power to choose is in our everyday lives, and we need to be more self-aware of how our decisions are affecting our lives for better or worse. We need to assess our choices and how we make decisions, imagine where these choices will take us in the future, and then make the necessary changes in our lives to get the better outcome we have always been searching for.
