Have you ever thought about how amazing it is to be able to choose? Sometimes we limit ourselves, thinking that we are stuck in a certain town or in a certain job or in a certain way of thinking. We get really comfortable with the way things are and don't stop to question it. But think about it. WE CAN STILL CHOOSE TO CHANGE!!!
We CAN choose!!! How many choices do you make during a day? 10? 100? 10,000? Do you know that it is estimated that we make roughly 35,000 decisions each day? We make decisions all the time about what we will eat and wear and purchase from the store. We make decisions about how much time we will watch TV and what shows. We make decisions about who we will spend our time with. And we also make thousands of decisions daily about how we think.
Our brain is an interesting thing. It has a pretty simple job: keep us safe. But our brain picks up and holds on to negative patterns because it is afraid that if we feel pain or hurt that we risk danger. All of those negative patterns in our brain can cause unnecessary fear around parts of our lives. We may hold onto patterns of rejection which cause fear and inaction during times we could connect with others. We may feel stuck in patterns of blaming others rather than accepting responsibility for our actions. Maybe these patterns served us during one time in our lives, but hinder us now.
Once we see the patterns that are holding us back, we can choose to make new patterns. We may choose a new habit like going to bed earlier. We may choose a new thoughts like gratitude or tolerance. But isn't it amazing that we can choose to change?
How do we make these changes? First, we become aware of our patterns and aware of the consequences of our patterns. When we have a clear vision of where our patterns are taking us, we can become more motivated to plan new ways to choose more of what we truly want. Sometimes it is hard to change the way we think about something, but I love that we have so many chances every day to try again. Maybe we have a habit of thinking selfishly when we have decided to be more grateful. Every time we have a selfish thought we have the opportunity to try again and think of something that makes us more grateful. And over time we will retrain our minds from selfishness to gratitude. And so many other ways we can use our mind to retrain our ways of thinking.
I am so amazed by our power to choose, especially the small things that build our attitudes and desires.
