Choices

Man’s power of choice enables him to think like an angel or a devil, a king or a slave. Whatever he chooses, mind will create and manifest. ~ Frederick Bailes

I have read of many people who in the most dire circumstances of life still chose to live life to the fullest. People like Helen Keller who chose to make the best of her physical inabilities. Anne Frank, who was hidden away in an attic for two years, and chose to write of the 'goodness of life and people'. People like Victor E. Frankl who survived the concentration camps of Adolf Hitler and was still moved to say, "The last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances." Today, no matter what comes our way, we have two choices. We can wallow in self pity and despair OR we can rejoice and take advantage of whatever passes our way today. Some would say how can I rejoice at the bad things that come my way? We need to get one thing clear this morning...happiness or unhappiness is often a matter of choice. Abraham Lincoln said, 'People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.' Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, "A man is happy so long as he chooses to be happy." The proverbial ball is always in your court. Life is a chess game, the next move is always yours. A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away. If a check is called, you can either surrender or move to defend. If a problem arises you can either see it as a horrible display how 'everything is against you' or you use it to your advantage. You can shake your fist at people or God and play the victim or get a back bone and make a choice to ‘see’ beyond the momentary setback. A now famous cliche says, 'If life gives you lemons, its up to you to make the lemonade.' The choice is yours and remember, if you choose not to decide, you have still made a choice. If you choose to remain in some gray area of indecision, that my friend is a choice.

You see, destiny is not a matter of chance, but it more of a matter of choice. The choices we make bring long results. Like a stone thrown into a pond, the ripples go in all directions and far beyond the place of impact. Every choice we make has an end result. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross said, "I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime." If we can see beyond the 'feeling and emotions' of the moment and choose to be happy in God's divine purpose for our lives, in whatever fashion it may come our way, then happiness will always be ours. Because happiness is not in something we possess or in a set of circumstances that befall us in just the right way. Happiness is a choice. It is a way of perceiving life around us.

One of my favorite poets, Edgar A. Guest said this...You are the person who has to decide. Whether you'll do it or toss it aside; you are the person who makes up your mind. Whether you'll lead or will linger behind. Whether you'll try for the goal that's afar. Or just be contented to stay where you are.
 
Today...read this poem again and again...then make a choice!