Making a Choice

I have come to a point in my life that when all things are considered, I tend to be a person who enjoys life. How can you not find joy and peace and meaning in the sights that fill your eyes, the noises of energy, the emotions and sensations of experience, from the Great Creator. What a waste of time to allow minutes, hours, and even days, of our lives fall to wayside in a lost and meaningful manner. Choosing joy over pain, love over misery, opportunity over negativity, optimism over pessimism, ought to be an easy task, for to say not would imply that one seeks pain and misery in life, choosing what is life over what stalls life.

And yet, at the same time, external forces creep, or sometimes storm, into life, threatening to shake the most stable temperament and most solid of character. It is not just the catastrophic events; it’s often the minor, miniscule, the meaningless that will soon be forgotten. These events quake our foundation, our need for control, our desire to manage will, our consistency. I have often found the small creepers of life to rattle my cage more effectively than the huge stressors I encounter.

Picture life as this huge sphere of no control or influence, with only at its center rests what you do control, which I’ve only found to be me. How often do we struggle due to our attempts to pull what we can’t control from that huge circle of life into our little circle of control? How often do we continue to do the same thing over and over hoping for a different outcome, to the same old man habits?

I encourage you my friend to take a page out of reality theory. Ask yourself, “What do I want?” Next, ask yourself, “Is what I’m doing getting me what I want.” Evaluate the two and make a plan to change what you need, give up what you can’t control, and learn to be flexible in life’s process. Enlist accountability, search your resources, write it down, make it real. And in making it real, I encourage you, my friend and reader, to ask yourself, “am I choosing to be embrace misery and negatively over joy and peace?” Sometimes, being honest with ourselves is not the easiest thing to do. Don’t allow yourself to get caught up is finding comfort in the dark side. The Light is ours to hold, we need not embrace that side anymore. Embrace life, let it be, and let yourself be.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_therapy

(The writings in this post are random thoughts and observations and are NEVER intended as professional or personal advice. Take what works and leave the rest. For information on mental health and/or substance abuse help, visit http://www.rodneyvalandra.com and refer to the links page.)

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