Thoughts About Our Choices
12/31/03
Winter is a fun time of year. For those that are involved
in skiing, sledding, snow mobiling. They have been waiting all year to finally
get out into the snow. The joy of being out on fresh ice, skating on a frozen
pond is likened to have died or gone to heaven. It’s something winter people
have been preparing and waiting for. They come alive, they are exhilarated by
the cold winter weather. It is heaven on earth.
For others it is hell. They are not prepared. They may
not have the winter wear. Summer tires are still on the car and they can’t get
out of the driveway. Not being able to go to work means loss of wages. Hardships
are realized as the snow keeps covering the driveway and sidewalks. Walking to
the store to pick up a few groceries becomes a major event. The difference
between all these events, seen as good or bad is the perception or thought about
it. The snow falls equally on all. Being in the snow can be seen as work or
play, exhilarating or depressing. If we are prepared for it, it is not seen as a
major hardship. All the seasons offer both fun and opportunity as well as
restriction or depression.
Anticipation and preparedness are the means to turning
our thoughts around. All of our life circumstances are likewise opportunities to
feel exhilarated or depressed. All are experienced in the same space at the same
time by people who are prepared for them or not. Life in the physical world is
both experienced as heaven or hell, in the same time and space. All of us choose
the circumstances of how we are going to experience life. Some prepare for it,
others dread it, while there are those that take it as it comes. Still we meet
life on our own terms.
We run into trouble only when we consider life as the
enemy. If we feel we have no control over it, we begin to experience it as hell
or a punishment, something we struggle against. Life is, swimming upstream all
the time. At anytime we can turn around and swim the other way, but like salmon
driven to spawn, we are driven upstream.
The only real difference between our experiences is
choice. All of us without exception choose whether are life is going to be
difficult or easy. We choose like circumstances that facilitate what we want to
experience. We can prepare for the winter by having shovels, candles, extra food
and clothing, or we can deal with it when it comes. Be prepared or take chances.
We all start off equally when we are born. We choose the circumstances of our
birth, our parents and the circumstances that will best facilitate the
opportunities for the things we want to experience. We also have at anytime in
our life the opportunity to change how we experience our life, by simply making
different choices.
When we wake up in the morning, we are faced with making
the choices. Should I go to work today? Should I quit my job? Should I leave my
family? Should I change jobs or move? From the time we awaken, all the choices
run through our minds at some level and we choose to swim upstream or go with
the flow. It’s not done from obligation, it’s done from choice. Obligation is a
thought process. Obligations are self imposed restrictions, that are made from
choice. They reflect a decision or choice that mirrors how we see ourselves. An
obligation is still a choice. We don’t ever have to be obligated to anyone or
anything, even to life itself. All, of what we do is choice.
With the freedom to choose, comes the power to live our
lives as we see fit. Choice is power, is freedom, and with that comes
responsibility to accept our choices as having made them from freewill and
knowing that we can choose something else at will and are prepared to accept the
responsibility for the choice.
Winter can be a fun experience if we accept the choices
we make and are prepared for it. We must accept the burden of our own
decisions, if we are to empower ourselves to make different choices. We cannot
change anything if we do not accept the responsibility for making the choice in
the first place.
If we blame another for our circumstances, we then
transfer our power to that person. We choose not to choose. We then again look
to others to get ourselves out of the situation we find undesirable. That may
never happen. Any choice is a good choice when it is made from freewill. All
choices are in fact made from freewill, whether we have a gun at to head or not.
It’s simply how we think about our choices that determines how we will
experience them.
Roy is a resident of British Columbia, Canada. An international published author, a student of NLP, spiritual philosopher, New Age Light Worker, Teacher and Phenomenologist. Roy's books and articles are thought provoking, and designed to empower your imagination.
Review Roy's new book at: http://www.yourlifewasnevermeanttobeastruggle.com
