“It is our choices… that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”—J.K. Rowling
Every moment, we are confronted with a decision of how to act, how to decide,…, how to live. The momentum of these decisions begins early in the day by the habits we set for our morning routine—what side of the bed we wake up on, so to speak. The choices we make are fueled by the people with whom we choice to associate and the environment we create around ourselves. To some extent, these choices are habits—repetitive choices to which we often give little to no thought.
I do well with starting my day with positive thoughts and habits. I rarely to never start the day without journaling. I prefer to write my “well-centered fitness” goals for the day (Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social), state my personal mission and values, list “opportunities” for the day, and write down thoughts for the day. I do this over a cup of coffee before the rest of the house is up and, preferably, before I exercise. This is all well and good, but the challenge remains in trying to keep the momentum going in the positive direction and not allowing the forces of life to deflect my course. Easier said than done.
Once every one else gets up (and, in reality, even before) the decisions begin. I am not one to handle annoyances very well. I am also one who thinks he drives better than everyone else—and I have a long commute to work. (Though, usually, it doesn’t take too long on the road to find the first decision of whether to remain positive of allow my Emotional well-centeredness to take a hit. These are my choices. It is up to me to maintain the positive course.
Too often I allow negativity to invade before I am even challenge. One sure example is round-abouts (traffic circles). I live in an area in which many (most) drivers come to the circle and stop rather than yield. It creates a backup on one particular road I frequently drive. I confess that it annoys me more than it should. (A lot more than it should.) Indeed, I actually find myself getting upset before I even come to the traffic circle. I just assume that the driver in front of me is going to stop. It is an emotional habit that is hard to break. (And, again I must confess, I have not really made the effort that I should to break the habit.) It is ridiculous to let something so minor as being delayed to disrupt one’s Emotional state. Once off course, it is hard to get back on track.
I was confronted, on Saturday, with having to teach my son about the impact of taking friendships too casually and the effect of mistreating friends. We can to easily take careful notice of how we treat stranger and neglect the people closest to us. These bad choices can become habits, and we can become completely aloof to the destructive impact that we can have on the people most important to us.
It all comes down to choices. Every moment is an opportunity to go a positive course or to be detoured. It takes less energy to continue in the direction our momentum is taking us. If we allow other forces to deflect our course, it now takes energy to restore our path. A key to happiness is to live decisively and to choose to cultivate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Carpe momento!
Image source: http://associationsnow.com/2013/04/browser-wars-redux-if-you-see-a-fork-in-the-road-take-it/