Thoughts on the power of choice

     When my dad was visiting over the holidays we got into a conversation about human nature. I started off the conversation by saying "you know dad, in general, people are in their current position and situation in life, good or bad, because they deserve to be there. It's the choices they do or do not make that put them in their current station in life. Of course, as my dad does, he disagreed with me, at first. However over the course of the conversation he saw my point although he didn't completely agree with everything I said.

      The statement I made to my dad was not something I pulled from the air. The idea stemmed from general observation, mixed with school and career experiences, over the past 20 years. I've always been interested in human behavior, especially the difference from one person to another. Aside from genetics and the environment I always thought there were other factors that separated one person from the next. Why is one person miserable and the another happy. Why are some people successful while others are not? Why are some mean while others are kind? Yes genetics and environment play a part as to why a person ends up where they are in life or who they become, however I believe the third factor is choice or the ability to make choices. 

     Somewhere along the way our society has moved from a state of accountability to a state that assigns blame for everything that is wrong with their lives. Society in general needs to get in front of a mirror and take a hard look as to why they are where they are. Yes there are always exigent (always wanted to use that word) circumstance as to why something happens on ones life. However over the course of a lifetime one can find the reasons as to why things are the way they are if there is some self reflection. People, in general need to look in a mirror and ask "what choices am I making?" Blaming others, blaming circumstances, is easy and frankly lazy.

    Personally, looking in the mirror was a hard process. In my late twenties I was no where near where I wanted to be or thought I should be, and frankly I was bitter about it. I convinced myself that if certain things hadn't happened, or if other things would have worked out differently, I'd be in a better position. 

The truth was I was waiting for things to happen. I forgot that I had choices and as a result had no power to makes the changes necessary to get where I wanted to be. Doing the same thing over and over was not working and I knew I was wasn't crazy. So the look in the mirror was harsh, very harsh, but necessary. Since then, I have achieved success that I'm happy with and reached personal goals I thought were out of my reach, and so far things are where I want them to be and where I deserve to be. 

    So far I have made good choice and bad choice and honestly I don't regret any of them. The only thing I regret are the choice I didn't make along the way. What about you?

Fitness update: clothes are fitting looser