When I was in my early twenties I attended my first personal development workshop – The Pursuit of Excellence. The presenter shared a concept that took me back to my high school years—I remember walking down the hall way feeling very grumpy and although I don’t remember what prompted this feeling, I did recall feeling there was no other option and so I stuck with my grumpy mood.
What the workshop presenter said that day, changed my world. As a teenager it had never occurred to me and no one had ever shared with me, these powerful words:
YOU ALWAYS HAVE A ‘CHOICE’.
I heard those words and whooshed back to that grumpy day in high school thinking “wow, I could have chosen to feel differently – who knew?!”
In the world of being busy and feeling overwhelmed, choice is your magic wand.
- You can choose to say no.
- You can choose to delegate.
- You can choose to make yourself a priority.
- You can choose to pause and explore why you are feeling the way you are feeling.
- You can choose to wake up a bit earlier, so you have time for yourself.
- You can choose to practiced gratitude.
- You can choose to not let others people’s behavior ruin your day.
- You can choose to leave the dishes in the sink and do something that will make you smile.
To the outside world, I appear to be one of those people that is bubbly and happy most of the time. But inside I am a kaleidoscope of emotions. I avoided ‘who I am’ for decades by numbing out with busyness. That was the choice I made.
Today I choose ‘me’ – all of me. I’m highly sensitive. My emotional landscape is diverse. I feel everything deeply and in all honestly, it can be a pain-in-the-arse, and…I am so much happier to no longer live inside the whirl wind of activity I had created. I have room to breathe. I sleep so much better and I embrace ‘me’ instead of pushing myself away, which was darn exhausting.
You’ve probably heard that saying, “choose happiness”, and of course, happiness is the state of being that is most enjoyable. But sometimes we need to feel our grief, sadness and healthy anger. If we don’t make the choice to feel what we are feeling, then ‘happiness’ is like putting on a girdle to flatten our tummy’s – our tummy isn’t really flat, and our happiness isn’t real.
Making the choice to feel what is ‘real’ for you is not only okay, it’s the healthy choice to make. Heck, you may even choose to feel grumpy…for an hour! 😉
Point being, choice is your smorgasbord! You get to pick and choose, even if for the time being you are stuck in a situation you don’t like, you still get to choose how you think, feel and act. The magic wand is in your hands…
So, what is going on with you? What choices can you make to enhance your mind, body and soul? I’d love to hear – post in the comments section below!
Cheers!
