In life, every choice we make has multiple gains and losses that we may not be aware of. For example, maybe we're put in a life or death situation where we could either run away and let somebody be shot -- then, at least we'd be okay - or we could try to play the hero, save the person and become famous, respected and rewarded. Then again, both lives could be lost. True, sometimes life hits you with choices that you have to make in a blink of an eye, but what about the more subtle ones? The choices that add up every day to make you who you are?

We're always told to make good decisions in our lives, but we cannot begin to accomplish that unless we realize that every choice we make gives us things to look forward to and things to dread. This article ties into my Thinking Ahead one awhile back, where I discussed that we need to envision possible outcomes to every choice we make. But how can we know which choice is the right one to make? Well, first we have to ask what is the person we want to become. Only then will we stop looking at choices as 'right' and 'wrong' and start looking to them as power that will shape who we can become.

The person we all want to become depends on the individual, but there has to be at least one prerequisite to becoming -- that is you have to BE involved in something. So apathy is out of the question. We cannot hope to be anything if we think we can just flow through life and not make any choices. When we do that, we end up going through the motions and not feeling passionate about anything because we never took the time to think about the things we attached ourselves to. So as it turns out, by not making any choices we've done the opposite! Now that that option is clearly out of the way, we should go back and make a list of all the gains and losses regarding the important choices we made that turned us into the person we are now. Keep in mind to think of the words gain and loss instead of pro and con, right and wrong.

Only by knowing where we were and who we are now can we hope to take the next step. Again, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity. Remember, if you always do what you've always done, you're always gonna get what you've always got! And maybe you think you can just cling to Luck itself forever, but that will simply bounce you around all over the map and before you know it, you'll be in an even worse spot.

Yet it isn't as simple as somebody telling you that if you're unhappy with your life, you simply need to make the right decision. It all goes back to becoming the person you want to be. You may not even know what kind of person you want to be, and until you do you'll always be stuck in the same spot. You're always going to make choices that don't help you and the people you care about. You'll instead just grab on to what you've always went along with. To truly make the right decision that's best for you, you need to look back at what you've done in the past, see where it got you, and then find something to fight for and believe in. Over time, you will transform into the person you've always wanted to be. Then when something bad has in fact happened to you, you'll realize that you're in control of your own life and you'll start doing the best thing for you no matter what, because in your heart you'll know that, without a doubt, you're the one in control.

Choice. It's your only power.

© Sam Leonard
Life Channels Staff Writer
All Rights Reserved

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