Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
Our lives are fashioned by our choices. First we make our choices. Then our choices make us. Anne Frank
Don’t talk; act, don’t say; show, don’t promise; prove, these words are written on the cover of a journal I purchased. It is easy to talk and not so easy to do. Showing, not telling, is the best way to live our lives.
How much are we willing to put ourselves out for someone else? How do we make others feel by our actions because words not followed up with action are empty?
We meant it when we said until death do us part, or did we? We meant it when we looked at our newborn baby and said, “I will always love you,” but children don’t always do what we want them to do, become what we want them to be, and are we still there for them regardless of their choices in life?
Would we have kids on the street if parents didn’t give up on them, or are some of the kids on the street because they’ve given up on themselves and their parents are still there for them?
When are we enabling with our support or being unsupportive when we expect more from people? In every relationship, is the dynamic such that it can be very good or bad? Do we live somewhere on the continuum of being our best or worst, and we are a choice away from either extreme?
What if, when we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change, and our perception colors our life more than we acknowledge? How often have we felt trapped when we look at things one way, but if we look at them from a different perspective opportunities open up?
Life presents many choices, the choices we make determine our future. Catherine Pulsifer
We might be looking at our cup, basket, or life as half empty, but what if we looked at it differently? What if we looked at every challenge as an opportunity, what if we saw the silver lining in every adversity, and what if we realize we are enough, and if we do the most with what we have it will be enough?
As we look toward retirement we are told we haven’t saved enough, we can’t possibly live on less than… Depending on where the information is coming from often we are told we need millions to retire, and yet many people are retiring and living quite well and they don’t have millions in the bank.
One of the things I like about YouTube is real people telling real stories about how they manage to live healthy lives, become adventurers, travel the world or their country, and build a secure retirement with reasonable amounts of money. As I write this I am thinking of Henry Mah, and his books and podcasts on maximizing the TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account).
Information is available on any subject; we have to find it, digest it, and act on it to see the dividends it might pay in our lives. Life has always been about choices, some of our choices we regret, some we are proud of, and some we still have to make. We can’t do anything about the choices we regret, they are what they are, what we can do something about is the choices we have to make in the days, weeks, and years ahead.
Our lives will be the sum of the choices we make, we might think our choices are all behind us, we didn’t start soon enough, and it is true we can’t have what we would have had if we made some choices years ago, but we can have what a good choice will bring us now.
We would be fitter if we started exercising earlier, but what people achieve even when they start fitness programs later in life is amazing. Too often we talk ourselves out of doing something we could do. It will take effort, courage, and faith to embark on a new path, but isn’t that what we are here for, to have the adventure of our lives?
Your life changes the moment you make a new, congruent, and committed decision. Tony Robbins
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
May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears. Nelson Mandela
Thank you for reading this post. Please come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
