There’s Always A Choice…

Ah, life… It has a way of backing us into a corner in such a way as to convince us that we often have no choice but to continue on whatever path is laid out before. Although this can sometimes be true, there’s always a choice to be made; even when it seems that there isn’t. Life may not care about one’s plan and according to Ferris Bueller, life moves pretty fast. But even if life changes things up quickly, you always have that opportunity to choose.

“Life Moves Pretty Fast. If You Don’t Stop And Look Around Once In A While, You Could Miss It.”

– Ferris Bueller

The problem is that when a person is backed into a corner, they’ll often feel powerless or unable to make any choices. It can sometimes look that way, but more often than not we allow ourselves to carry on without consciously making a choice. After all, at a baser level we are still animals. And most animals will take the path of least resistance. From an animal standpoint, this is because it conserves the most energy and contributes to an animal’s overall survival.

Humans, despite being a part of the animal kingdom, have to deal with the stress, anxiety and subsequent issues that accompany the reflex of just sitting back and doing nothing. For example, if you face an accusation from someone and may face repercussions, the toll it can take on your mental health is measurable, despite the fact that it could potentially be easier to take the path of least resistance and wait to see how things play out.

This is only one example, but my point is that the right to choose is something that is essentially unique to humans. Even when animals make a choice, they’re doing so out of instinct and need as opposed to self-awareness and informed decisions. Exercising that unique choice is a right not permitted to everyone in the world, so I feel that it’s important to exercise it in every instance.

So, you may not be able to choose how someone else speaks, acts or directs their emotions. But you can certainly choose your reaction to those things. You may not be able to choose if a particular job or business still exists, tomorrow. But you can definitely choose what you do about it. Life may have thrown you a bad curve. Maybe you’ve gained weight, fell out of shape or an illness has caused your health to wane. You may not have chosen any of those things, but you can definitely choose what changes you make and how you affect your overall.

No matter what situations life may present, there’s always a choice to make. And considering not everyone in the world is given the opportunity to choose, you owe it to yourself to exercise that choice. The choice to choose. For example, you chose to read this post… ☯