Everyone Chooses Something

The last couple of decades have been very educational, filled with painful but definitely valuable learning experiences. After over 20 years of marriage, raising kids, having to move home three times in as many years, losing a grandchild, watching my son who wasn't even of legal drinking age yet move through the loss of his child, and watching someone I believed to be a friend for over 20 years throw everything away just so they could continue to cling to their version of reality. I've come to realize a few things, and I like to share... 

The entire history of humanity shows a distressing trend towards our least desirable attributes rather than our nobler ones, and generally speaking all systems currently in place seem to work at some level of corruption. Yet, this doesn't keep individuals from rising above it all to shine as examples for everyone. 

Whatever our various circumstances, it all boils down to... we either choose to be happy or we choose not to be. We choose to let some ripple in the big pond of life upset us, or we admire the reflection as we continue on our way. We rant and rail at the unfairness we butt heads with on our path, or take positive action to correct as much as we can and keep moving on with life. We choose to cling to our emotional and intellectual baggage, or we keep what is valuable in each trial, each life lesson, and compost the garbage.

 We either move through the pain of our trials, or we let it

break and rule us. We either deal with our Shadow selves, or we let it consume us from the inside out. We choose to be Aware, or we choose to continue sleepwalking through life, never really facing the truth of our selves or reality. We all meet with some degree of success in our choices, but not all of us are even aware that we are, in fact, making choices at all.

In the end though, the only choices I can truly deal with… are my own. I choose to be Awake. I choose to live through each day of my life, even those really painful ones, with my eyes

wide open to the truth in and around me. I choose to move through the pain of life trials and rebirth myself; giving up who I was for who I yet may be. I choose not to be dragged down by or react to the sleeping majority, their poor choices, petty behaviors or inappropriate reactions. I choose to continue making the attempt to gently wake each sleeping soul I encounter, even if they lash out.

I choose to live in a manner which reflects my respect and love for the World and All My Relations, even if my own people continue on their destructive path. I choose to learn from my mistakes and forgive myself for all that is beyond my reach. I choose to leave this world a little better off than it was when I got here, and leave any worrying to be done by Creator. I choose to remember that the only person I need to be better than, is the person I was yesterday. I choose to assess myself honestly and put in the work that needs done, especially when I don’t want to face it.

I choose to form a life for myself that has no room for toxic people or their waste, only compassion for their loss. I choose to compost the crap that flies at me rather than fling it back, or dump it on others. I choose to live my life in each moment making the best choices possible and doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing, not for reward, acclaim, or power… but because somebody somewhere that I will never know just might be inspired. I choose to be happy and relentlessly cheerful in the face of adversity. I choose Life, Love, Light, Happiness, Healing….

Because I am worthy of all things bright and bountiful, just like everyone else. Because I believe we all struggle with our burdens, experience pain and lessons we have yet to learn how deal with in a healthy way, and we all need to be the change we most desire to see happening in the world, especially when we see no hope. What I need most comes to my hand when needed, and I am already grateful for the multitude of unseen good things that are headed in my direction. The World gives its best to me, and Life deserves no less than the best I have to offer in return. Everyone chooses something.




“A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them.” Carl Jung

“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.” Carl Jung

“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

“If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.” ~Robert Fulghum

“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.” William Shakespeare