Thursday, September 30, 2010

manifesto on choice


my amazing sister (she's even better in real life) just published a blog post about commitment and it got me thinking. when i hear the word commitment, i think of Wanting something with a capital "W". do you really Want it? then make a choice and go for it.

so often we play the victim. we say:

i can't afford that. i don't have time for that. i wish i had a happy, easy life like her.

when what we don't realize is that so much in life is really a choice. what we really are saying is:

i choose not to spend my money on that so that i won't have debt (or, so that i can buy groceries, rent a cello for my daughter, etc.). i choose to wake up at 5 am to make time for the temple. i choose to read instead of fold laundry or watch t.v. i choose to be happy.

let me repeat that. i CHOOSE to be happy. i choose to make my life what i want.

our life is a series of choices. the choices we make let us know what really matters to us and what we really Want in our life. many things we do not have control over. but the great news is this: we are in control of our own choices. the only true control is self-control.

want to be a stay-at-home mom? live in a small house, plant a garden, cook meals from scratch, spend less and work hard.

want to be fit? prepare your own healthy food and sweat every day. then stop complaining that your body isn't perfect. nobody's is.

want to be a published author? put your bum in your chair and write while your friends meet for lunch and clean their houses and your husband relaxes in front of the t.v.

so many things in life are available to us if we choose them—if we choose to take the fork in the road that will lead us there and then keep on walking, regardless of the opposition that will surely come our way. all it takes is for us to make a commitment, and then remember that we Want it.

we are all powerful. we have the ability to make miracles happen.

what do you Want? stop making excuses and make things happen instead.

amen.

10 comments:

  1. Love your insight. Thank you for sharing because it is so true!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are on a roll girl. This and and your last post are so true. keep them coming!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love it! You're exactly right. I love being able to choose. Thankyou for that. Its invigorating and refreshing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have been thinking a lot about choice since my last blog post and have been wanting to blog about choice. Luckily, you write better than I and have summed it up all so nicely here. Really, it's true, we CHOOSE our happiness.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What an amazing post. Love. It. Thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You just repeated, in plain English, what my counselor has been telling me for the past five years. It's so true and so many people don't get it. It's hard, mind you, I know. I've been trying to put this into action for the past five years. But, there are so many people out there that don't want to believe the things you just wrote. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I completely agree! I'm glad you're my friend!

    I choose to fill my life with great people, and leave the others over there who dont want to be positive. I choose to make memories with my kids so that they'll grow up and (hopefully think) my parents tried hard to make my childhood good. I choose to surround myself with good things so that I can choose to be happy.
    I've lived that other part and it's easy to get sucked down and into the "if only's" or "I wish I was'". So now I choose to make it happen.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I work every day with people who have spent much of their lives making the WRONG choices. Correct choices will set you free, the wrong ones will imprison you. It is sad to see those who can't escape from this prison, and glorious to work with those who determine to break the bonds of their poor choices and follow that path you speak of. Agency is a powerful ability our Heavenly Father has given us.

    ReplyDelete