"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
-J.K. Rowling
Motivation Monday - Richard's Insight
Decisions, decisions. The choices that we make or our decisions do really reveal a lot about us, our values and ultimately our destiny. It sounds like an overly powerful statement when perhaps we may only be thinking about whether to skip a gym session, pour a glass of vino on a 'school night' or check Facebook instead of speaking to a potential partner, investor or tenant say. However, all of these choices do eventually add up.
Not only do our choices and decisions add up...they also compound over time...little by little they take us down a certain path, which may only be one or two degrees off from our intended course. Over time, which could be weeks, months or even years, we may look at our situation and wonder how on earth we got to where we did. The answer lies in the choices and decisions that we made along the way, or at the start.
More than this, these choices do reveal our inner character and values - they betray us and lay us bare for all to see...do you like what you see in yourself when you look at it this way?
There is no need to beat ourselves up about bad choices in the past when we have the opportunity to make a good choice next time around. On a small personal note, I had slipped into making a bad choice by forming a habit of having a chocolate bar with my afternoon coffee. Harmless enough right? However, my father used to have a similar weakness and over the years his sweet tooth has taken its toll, resulting in Type 2 Diabetes. It crept up silently over the years but stemmed from what the medics call 'lifestyle choices'...in his case the love of chocolate and sweets contributed to his condition. I realised that I may have a similar weakness and despite leading a generally healthy lifestyle with exercise, a reasonable diet and so on, I had this potential weakness with my daily chocolate bar. I may be lucky and escape, but on the other hand, I would prefer to avoid the danger to my health, so cold turkey to chocolate during the week at least it is!
I realised that I may have a similar weakness and despite leading a generally healthy lifestyle with exercise, a reasonable diet and so on, I had this potential weakness with my daily chocolate bar habit. I may be lucky and escape, but on the other hand, I would prefer to avoid the danger to my health, so cold turkey to chocolate during the week at least it is!
Just a small personal example to illustrate the point...it can be applied to many other things aside from diet obviously.
We have all made bad choices at times, some repeatedly, it's not as if we all live our lives as monks or nuns after all! However, the great thing about choices and decisions is that a new one will come around soon enough...and next time we can elect to change our choices to start a new path or destiny instead. Making our positive choices automatic is another way to help here...that means creating new habits. Wish me luck on my first 60 days without my daily chocolate bar coffee break, as I seek to cement this choice into my routine by forming a new habit instead.
How about you, what new choice or decision do you need to make today?
#MotivationMonday