Life is All About Choices
I’ve always made choices in my life, especially big ones since I can judge what I deem “good” or “bad”. We all do.
Life is full of choices we make on a second, minute, day, month and year. One’s life changes for good or for bad according to the choices one makes. Depending on where we are in our lives and what phase we are in choices are made differently.
Often those we consider bigger or smaller choices are what separate one from another. Whether in the journey of pursuing excellence or mediocre. So which side are you on?
My journey on the self-development journey has been quite some time. I’ve grown and evolved much more than my past self. Yet it was missing some important components. I’ve been yearning to improve and grow myself to become the version of a human being who can serve humanity. I hope that one day my story and insights can be of inspiration to someone who’s in their “valley” lost.
Yet, it was from a place of not being enough, not approving myself as who I am. It is different when someone wants to grow out of pure intention of becoming a better or skilled person. Then those who want to grow because they feel they are never enough for some reason. One will never approve of oneself no matter how great one gets as a person if it’s from a place of not being enough.
Because what is missing is self-acceptance and self-approval. By no means one shouldn’t evolve and expand once they accept and approve themselves. It is about knowing that you’re enough. Yet you’re also aware that the human species have unlimited potential than you think.
So how the heck can one accept and approve themselves? Simple. Through choices, and make decisions. No one can do that FOR ourselves. Even though, people around us approve of us, their approval still needs to go through the filter you set of “not being enough”. That means you’re the only one who can remove that filter.
I’ve made several choices in my life to get rid of that filter for good. It feels lighter and lifted knowing that “I am enough as who I am”, yet I know that I can be better. As an unlimited being on this planet, I know I will always evolve. I know sitting still comfortably will take me nowhere not even a step closer to my dreams.
Choices we make in our lives can be that simple if we believe so. Even pain and pleasure are a matter of choice, a matter of perception, a matter of where you stand on your ground. Pain and pleasure are like two sides of a coin. Without pain how would one be aware of the state of pleasure?
Everything we experience in life is dual. The core philosophy of Daoist wisdom Yin and Yang indicates it — balance of everything. If you see the picture of Buagua you’ll see the white dot in black, the black dot in the white. I would interpret that if you choose to see the pleasure in the pain, you will and vice versa.
If you hold a coin in your hand there are still going to be two sides. You can’t hold only one side of it and chuck the other side away. They are inseparable. So is pain and pleasure in life. Someone’s pain can be the other’s pleasure and vice versa. They depend on what you choose to see through your lens.
Most people want to achieve great things in life. Desiring a life of abundance, but they do exactly the opposite of what would get them there. They avoid going through the challenging part of tasks that make them uncomfortable. Instead, only choose to do what they find easy and certain about.
They aren’t aware that it is the challenge that helps them to grow, evolve and expand in this human journey. They found those hurdles painful because it was an uncomfortable territory. I know, I’ve been there. After all, everything we do is either to avoid pain or to gain pleasure. You want to be rich, it is either because you had enough of lacking money or because you desire the pleasure that money brings. Yes or yes?
Thus, to achieve goals in life one needs to embrace both sides of a coin. The tricky part though, things that people relate to pain will stop them from taking action. It’s a recipe for procrastination no one’s willing to seek pain proactively.
But how about that? How about relating those pain to another category other than pain itself? I found working out was quite painful, I would prefer lie down and read a book instead. But I’m aware the state of my physical body affects other areas of my life (emotional/ mental/ spiritual). I’m aware that I’ll need the workout to maintain the optimal state possible.
So to make this process more enjoyable and proactive, I relate working out as the deed of loving and nurturing myself. I’m only doing it to serve my highest self. So I’ll have a healthier state to be more productive and accomplish more. Since it is the act of loving myself it is no longer a pain to me.
As I we discussed earlier, many things we deem as a pain, for someone it could be a pleasure and vice versa. Why is that? It’s the different programming everyone has according to their life events that happened in the past. Again, it’s a matter of choice whether to see the white dot in the black or see the black one in the white. Remember the figure of Buagua?
So when you feel like you’re in the “valley” of life, you have two choices. First, stuck in the valley and complain. Second, ask yourself open questions that could lead to potential opportunities.
What choices can I make today to make myself a little better than yesterday?
What good can I find in this “valley”?
What lessons can I learn to turn around the situation?
After all, you are the one who attracts things in life whether it is desired or not. You reap what you sow. Every choice is like a seed. Sow them consciously and carefully.
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