Monday, May 6, 2013

Choices—check yours out

Yesterday I got hooked again. I gave in to an expectation that I know will not be met—and, big surprise, I was disappointed once again! Even when I think I'm paying attention to my own triggers and responses, to my expectations and reality, it still happens from time to time. 

Does that ever happen to you? You've worked hard to let go of an old internal message tape or some old behavior that didn't work any longer ... and, boom, there it is again. The good news is that we typically recognize it much more quickly now than we used to. And we can make some different choices. As soon as I realized what had happened, I changed my internal conversation and my attitude from negative to positive.

Choices. We Americans are so big on choices. And advertisers use that to hook us on all kinds of products. Ever hear the National Car Rental ads? "Choose any car in the aisle and go." It doesn't matter what you signed up to rent; you choose what you want.

I'm sure that's a wonderful option. But where I see choice as being extremely important is in how you and I choose to live our lives. Will we live in gratitude? In as positive and joyful a manner as possible? Will we face life with a can-do attitude and meet life events with as much grace and openness as possible? I have heard many true stories about people faced with chronic pain or illness who opted to face it in an open and positive way, searching for the good things that were still in their life. It made such a difference in the way they healed and the way they coped—to say nothing of their quality of life.

What choices are you facing right now? Would an attitude change help?

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