Choices

“You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are.” Fred Rogers

I just finished The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember. This is a beautiful collection of quotes and thoughts from Fred Rogers, a man who spent decades as a role model entertaining and teaching life lessons to kids. I’ve written before about Fred Rogers’ different kind of beautiful impact, and I love to bring him up whenever I get the chance.

“Choice is creation. To choose is to create. Through my choices, I create my reality...At every moment in life, I have a choice. Moments add up to a lifetime; choices add up to a life.” Tal Ben-Shahar

After I finished this book, I started thinking of another influence on my life, Tal Ben-Shahar. Tal is a remarkable man and worth looking into if you’ve not heard of him. His book, Choose the Life You Want: The Mindful Way to Happiness, is one of my favorites. The Fred Roger quote about choices reminded me of Tal Ben-Shahar’s quote from this book. I started skimming through this book and decided it was time to read it again.

“Moment to moment, we have a choice. We can either step forward into growth or we can step back into safety.” Brian Johnson

A few weeks ago, I made the choice to take a step forward into growth and just beyond my comfort zone. In an effort to master, serve, empower, and change, I made a decision based on that deep sense of who I am. I have this desire to live life fully, loving God and loving my neighbors. I want to close the gap between who I’m capable of being and who I am currently being. My choice to join the Optimize Coaching program is a reflection of that desire.

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” Nelson Mandela

For the next week or so, I choose to spend some time with Tal, learning again to chose the life I want. Choosing again the mindful way to happiness. I pray moment to moment I am led by my hopes, not my fears. I’m grateful for wise men and women who inspire us and give us hope for ourselves, our neighbors, and our world. I am grateful for teachers like J.K., Nelson, Tal, Ben, and Fred. I am grateful for the many daily choices that help us take a step forward into growth and grateful for moments like these to choose who we are.

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” J.K. Rowling