Crossroads

Individuals, families, organizations, race and nations are either improved or decimated based on one single factor: CHOICE.

Columbus decided (choice) to set sail and he discovered America (consequence).
The weather was very bad for the invasion of Normandy but Eisenhower said, “lets go” (choice).. What happened? That was the beginning of the end of the Nazi regime (Consequence).
David approached goliath with his weapon, the size of goliath was enough to make him turn back but he didn’t (choice).. Outcome? He defeated goliath (consequence)

Before the 9/11 attacks, the CIA and FBI had credible info on the terrorist but they didn’t act on time (choice).. What happened? Attacks on the pentagon and world trade center (consequence).

Great men in history are celebrated for their actions and the product of their actions but what we fail to pay attention to is the single decisive factor that led to the greatness.
Just as I always tell my friends when we have a discussion or argument.. “I can only tell you my opinion, the CHOICE is left to you”.

Everything you do, you say is a choice. Even what you feel is a choice. When you go to work everyday at a job you do not like and complain about it – change it! Making yourself stressed and anxious over a job you do not like is a choice you made. Take responsibility for that choice, and start to make plans to change your past choices. Plan to get training for something you have a passion for, plan to go back to school or just get another job you would enjoy doing. You could even start a business using your own passions. These are all choices, but only you know what choices will better your life.

You have the power of choice in your own life. Remember that, however, you do not have that power in other’s lives, you can only make decisions for yourself. Everyone from anywhere needs to take responsibility for their life and their choices. Often our outcomes are the consequences of our prior choices in life.

One thing that is very difficult for all of us to deal with is that we can only control the choices that we make, not the choices that others make. We can try to persuade, educate and inform to sway someone’s decision, but we have no control over that person’s end choice. The good thing is that we have complete and total control over the choices we make in our own lives, small or large. That can be a very powerful thing to have when you know and embrace that power. Power of choice is a wonderful opportunity we have in our lives, and some people do not even realize that we have this power. If there is something in your life that you do not like do not complain, whine or stress over it. You should figure out a way to change it to better your own life as well as those around you. When you are happy, those who truly love you will be happy as well. You have the power to choose what you do, why you do it, how you do it, and when you do it. You have the power to make thought out decisions that will make you happy.
The outcomes of the choices you make are consequences. We can often associate the word consequence with a bad meaning, such as getting punished as a child. However, a consequence is something to learn from, grow from and use to get better with. It has nothing to do with your childhood, how you were raised and/or how you were treated. This is now, and now you are an adult. Use the consequences from your choices (good and bad) to learn from. Make the good outcomes even better, and the bad ones better too. You have the power to do that, but you can only do that when you take responsibility for the choices you make.

One difficult part of learning from the choices we make no matter how small or how large is taking responsibility for them. When something goes wrong from a choice you have made you need to own up and say, yes, I made that choice and the outcome was not as I expected. I will learn from that mistake and make better choices for myself in the future. Even when you make a choice that has a fantastic outcome it can be hard to toot your own horn, but you should. Be proud of yourself for making a decision that provided a good outcome and keep trying to make choices that do make you happy.

Improve your life with the choices you make. Choose to be happy. If something stresses you out choose to calm yourself down, take a breather, take control, and get back on track with whatever you were doing. Make choices in your personal life, work life, leisure life, and school life that will make you happy. If you are in a relationship that does not seem to be working make a choice to work it out, express your concerns, or break it off. If you do not like your job make a choice to change what you do for a living. If you do not like where you live maybe you need to move or plan to move.

You have the power of choice in your life. Now you can use this power to your advantage to better your life!

 

 

– A blog by Adroit co-founder.. ‘Bowale