Monday, March 15, 2010

It's A Matter Of Choice

Choice! The key is choice. You have options. You need not spend your life wallowing in failure, ignorance, grief, poverty, shame, and self pity. But hold on! If this is true, then why have so many among us apparently elected to live in that manner?
The answer is obvious. Those who live in unhappy failure have never exercised their options for a better way of life because they have never been aware that they had any choices.

The above words are from The Choice, a book written by Og Mandino. Read it again my friend because it is a cornerstone for building a successful and happy life. You inability to use your power of choice can affect your entire life. Life is about choices. Every situation is a choice. You choose how to react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or a bad mood. The bottom line: The choices you make determine how you live your life. Once you can say to yourself that you have a choice on how to deal with a problem or even a crisis, you are sending a message to that brain of yours, stating that you are in control of the situation, Instead of the situation controlling you. In other words you are not at the mercy of the situation.
You can choose to believe that you are helpless and at the mercy of life's unpleasant twists of fate and misfortunes. You can choose to believe some people are lucky and some are destined to a life of misery and despair. If this is what you believe, then that will be your reality.
On the other hand, you could choose to believe you have a choice in your affairs, that you may not be able to control what happens to you, but you can always choose how you think about what happens, you can always choose the state of mind you need to be in regardless of what is happening around you or to you. The choice is yours my friend, it has always been. It always will be. It's always just a matter of choice.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Part 2: Why You Are Here by Steve Rizzo

I think we can all agree that life is an ongoing obstacle course, always challenging you to be the best you can be. Each obstacle, no matter how big or small, is an opportunity for you to shift your perspective and view it through the eyes of hope and peace, and that choice my friend is always yours to make. As I said in Part 1, this is what acquiring a positive attitude is all about. This is what builds character and enables you to grow and to become the person you were meant to be. This is also why some of your biggest challenges can be blessings in disguise. Understanding this is the pathway to success and happiness. Are you ready for the challenge?
We need to teach our children that there will be times in their lives where they will experience disappointment and heartache, that good and bad are simply part of the process of life. It's necessary to feel the effect of one to feel the effect of the other. If our lives were void of disappointment and heartache, we wouldn't know we were experiencing a life worth living because we would have nothing to compare it with. Without comparison, life would be boring for certain and even worse, unfulfilling. This is the wonder and, yes, the blessing of life. So in the grand scheme of things, there is really no such thing as a bad experience. There is only the wrong attitude. Once again, that choice is always yours to make.