It is All About the Choices We Make & Act On

We all experience good and bad times in our lives. The difference between living a life of pain and discomfort and one of joy and happiness often comes down to our state of mind. We may not get to choose what happens to us, but we ALWAYS get to choose how we respond to it. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

Most people look at how I live my life and think, “well of course you can live a life full of happiness and love; travel and companionship; and abundance, but you haven’t experienced the setbacks I have.” Such nonsense. I’ve chosen to learn from my mistakes and the pain. I’ve become a better person because of them.

blog images (1080 × 1350 px) (1080 × 1200 px) (1000 × 1200 px)

What do I mean? How would you respond to this scenario… during Easter breakfast, you get a dark foreboding feeling deep within your Soul that something is very wrong and within minutes, your sister appears to tell you that your brother has committed suicide? Compound that with now having to go tell his 12-year-old son.

How would you respond to finding that the love of your life has terminal cancer and has 6 months to a year to live out his life? Add to that, before he passes, you get the call that every parent dreads – your child has also been diagnosed with cancer.

Some would have given into dark despair and let everything else in life suffer because of these. In fact, any one of these could take you out. But do you think that your loved ones want that for you? I once was told the deeper you love, the deeper the grief. I would agree with that statement. But I would much rather love as deeply as I possibly can than not experience that level of joy.

Don’t deal with things on your own. There are many people who have gone through what you are experiencing or worse. As my late husband taught me – there are ALWAYS people who are less fortunate than you or are suffering more than you are.

Be grateful for who you are and the lessons you are learning. Lean on others – friends and professionals to get the most out of every experience you are given. Share what you are learning with others – it might help them to keep faith and keep moving forward.

blog images (1080 × 1350 px) (1080 × 1200 px) (1)

Choose to be happy. Choose to live in gratitude. Choose to be a joy to others. Take one thing at a time – one moment at a time if need be, but move forward and choose to be better today than you were yesterday.