Life is a Series of Choices…

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves.

The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are

ultimately our own responsibility.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt       

Life is a series of choices….

What choices have you made already this morning? Were you even aware of the choices you made? From the time you decided to get out of bed, to the outfit you picked to wear today, to opening up this email (yay! go you!), you made a choice. But, were you aware IN the moment that you were making a choice? Or, were the choices you made second nature like breathing? Did you even think about any of these things being “real” choices?

We always have a choice. In fact, life is a series of choices. And while we’d all agree that we have a choice to pick something from column A over column B or to choose a positive thought over a negative one, having a choice isn’t about the choosing. It’s about the knowing. Do you know what IT is you are choosing? Are you aware in the moment as you make the choice? Now, some things like our everyday breathing are subconscious; there’s little choice involved and it’s essentially done for us (thank heavens for one less thing to think about!) But, these aren’t the choices I’m talking about. I’m talking about the choices in everyday moments.

So, let’s play a little game….I want YOU to think about your immediate reaction to the following scenarios. Not what you would “like” to do. Your bare-bones-might-be-a-verbal-vomit-shit-show response. Yes. That one. The point of this exercise to is just respond as IF you are reacting in the situation.

• It’s a busy Saturday at the grocery store and long lines are inevitable. The line you are waiting in (with your frozen food no less!) feels like it hasn’t moved in 10 minutes.
• You’re stuck in traffic on your way to _____________ (a place you really need to be).
• Someone takes “your” spot in your favorite gym class. You know, the place you always stand.
• You walk into the locker room/break room to everyone up in arms complaining about a new policy.
• It’s a packed rush hour train and you’re elbow-to-elbow with every person next to you. The doors open at the next stop and as a person squeezes their way in your car, they end up pushing you.

Were you surprised by some of your immediate reactions? Are any of them familiar? Did you really think of them as choices you were “making”?

Now let’s try it again. The same scenarios are below BUT this time I want you to close your eyes and take one BIG inhale….hold it at the top….and then let it all go BEFORE you open your eyes and respond. Got it? Good. Now try again…

• It’s a busy Saturday at the grocery store and long lines are inevitable. The line you are waiting in (with your frozen food no less!) feels like it hasn’t moved in 10 minutes.
• You’re stuck in traffic on your way to _____________ (a place you really need to be).
• Someone takes “your” spot in your favorite gym class. You know, the place you always stand.
• You walk into the locker room/break room to everyone up in arms complaining about a new policy.
• It’s a packed rush hour train and you’re elbow-to-elbow with every person next to you. The doors open at the next stop and as a person squeezes their way in your car, they end up pushing you.

What changes did you notice the second time around? Surely, you knew what was coming because you had the awareness of being in the situation prior (even if your first time was only lines above). But you also utilized the awareness of your breath. Taking that pause, especially in moments that seem outside our control, moments in which we can easily react but don’t always believe or know we have a “choice,” is what offers us the greatest gift of all: our power. Awareness affords us the gift of power and in that moment, the one right after our pause, the very next word, thought, attitude and action is always ours to choose…mindfully.

I bring up CHOICE as a key word this week because it’s been a huge theme for me. So many times we view life as an insurmountable obstacle when in fact life is a series of choices. Put it this way: we can look at life as a To-Do list (what do I have to do to get through this?), or, we can look at life as a Ta-Da list (what can I do with this?). Realizing that I could view life and my Sunday as either a To-Do or Ta-Da is what enabled me to experience a huge shift in perception.

Every Sunday I teach intenSati at Weston Fitness at 9:30. After an inspiring conversation with a friend the day prior, I was moved to talk about the notion of choice in my intro. Well, the Universe decided it wasn’t enough to just talk about it; I was going to have to BE it. On Sunday, I walked in to the sounds of the test fire alarms going off and found out that they’d be going off until 11. Yup. The entire class. To top it off, I was going to have to teach above the music and the alarms with no microphone. I am someone who doesn’t do well with immediate change and thrives on control….but in that moment I had a choice. For Pete’s sake, this was what I was going to talk about in class, no? And what better opportunity to live out one of my favorite phrases: “We can’t always control our circumstances, but we can control our perception of them. We always have a choice over what it is we think, say and do.” Because you know what? I couldn’t control the fire alarms or the microphone situation. What I could bring awareness to was my reaction, my choice. Rather than make class a To-Do, the “OK guys, this is going to suck but let’s get through it anyway…” I chose to take a couple deep breaths and make class a Ta-Da, the “Here’s what we got in front of us-a lesson, a learning opportunity and choice. Let’s do this.” And we did. In fact, it wasn’t until I was transitioning through moves more than halfway through class, that I realized the alarms stopped. No one in class could pinpoint when they went off. What is certain is what we we put our attention to magnifies: we were so zoned in on the series and affirmations that we lost sight of the alarm. We made the choice to do something with our circumstances.

Having the #bestyearever begins by having the #bestdayever day after day after day. It’s a series of choices about how you show up in the moment, how you intend for your day to unfold and if you are making that day a To-Do or a Ta-Da. And, there’s no better time to start than right NOW. Make a promise right now around what change you wish to see. Make a commitment to do _____________ for 30 days straight. Start showing UP as the person you say you want to be and before you know it, you’ll BE it.

Ready to BE it? Join me and the entire community in a 30-day challenge. Commit to the #promisechallenge or take on a daily act of #service for 30 days and show UP as the change you want to see.

How will YOU make today YOUR best day ever? Where can you bring knowing into choosing?

Are YOU ready to have your best year yet?

YOU are powerful beyond belief. Strong than you seem. More capable than you think. And more ready than ever. The choice is own that power is YOURS…will YOU?