Choices face us every minute
of our life.
Whatever we decide may seem
so natural as to not require any attention from us… what to eat, how to speak
to our spouse or children, how to spend our money that day, who to smile at as
we pass on the street. We just do what
seems best that day.
If we change those little
choices, though, we change the person that we are building ourselves into. We are who we are, because of everything we’ve
lived through. All that our family and
friends say and do influences our beliefs.
All that we learn in school and at work influences our beliefs and
actions. Every trauma shapes what we
believe about the world and about destiny and the workings of the universe. Every victory reinforces something in our
value system.
We are the result of our
life’s experiences. We make choices
based on what we have made ourselves into based on those experiences. Can we
see that in ourselves? Can we see that
in others who make radically different choices?
Can we find compassion for another person’s unimaginable actions and
beliefs? Can we find more love within
ourselves, and see it in others?
We tend to think that our
choices are clearly evident as the only “right” ones. Maybe books and leaders reinforce that
belief. What about someone whose life experiences have
been radically different from ours? How
could we expect their conclusions and beliefs to resemble ours? They have built themselves into the very best
person they could imagine, given their circumstances. Mutual respect is required of one another.
Everything humanity values
boils down to love. It’s at the root of
every thing. We have to find it and
become it.
Hourly, daily, we choose how
to think and how to interact with the world around us. If we change those daily choices, we change
the trajectory of the path we walk. Smiling
at a different category of people as we pass on the sidewalk… giving to a
different charity today…. thinking differently about food today…. reading something that is entirely
uncharacteristic… all of those choices would change the person we’re building
ourselves into.
The sun rises for us with
every breath. A new chance comes every
few seconds. Anything can change. Everything can change.
* * * * * *
8:13:05 PM 
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