Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Making choices empowers you

Do you remember Marlo Thomas and her Free to Be ... You and Me album, book and TV special? It was more than 40 years ago when she and other writers, actors and musicians created the album to help kids rid themselves of old ways of thinking and dream in new, bigger and more positive, joyful ways. As she said in a recent AARP The Magazine article, "We wanted a pint-size revolution! And we got it."

Thomas said she has been surprised by the impact of that project for kids. "I am frequently approached by grownups who tell me how Free to Be helped them follow uncharted paths in their own lives. ... all of us involved in it saw something we wanted to change; our passion and deep belief in that change are what drove us. We all do this in smaller but no less significant ways every day—in the new jobs we choose to take, in the new challenges we choose to tackle. And whether those choices turn out exactly the way we planned them is almost immaterial. The fact that we make them is what's really important."

She's right, isn't she? When you and I follow our passion and believe deeply in our ability to change, we often make choices to follow "uncharted paths." And even if it doesn't turn out exactly as you and I envisioned, we feel so empowered. And most often, those changes become life-changing even when not exactly what we thought they'd be. And, as Thomas said, you and I do this in smaller ways every day, too.

Is there a crossroads of sorts that you're facing right now in which you could make a choice that would empower you? Are you scared to take that "uncharted path"? Feel the fear and do it anyway—if that seems what your heart is saying. And celebrate all those times you made a brave choice, whether it worked out or not.

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