The Power to Choose

One of the most challenging lessons facing all of us in life is realizing that at any given moment, in any given situation we still have a choice. No matter what is being "done to us" or how others are "making us feel", we still can choose how we react, and how we respond. We can either choose to be a victim, giving our emotional power away allowing others to control our happiness, or we can take a stand and decide that today is the day we are the ones in control of our emotions.

Granted, no one said that such an education was easy to aquire, or to practice - quite the contrary. The central character in A Soul Less Broken must discover this and it is hands down one of the hardest lessons any of us will ever face. But its also the one that will give us the most peace.

One of the stories I had heard years ago, that inspires me to this day, was an interview with a woman who had been attacked in Central Park while she was jogging. It was a vicious, brutal attack, one that she almost didn't survive; it was clear that her attacker had left her for dead. But inspite of these circumstances and all her suffering, she remained amazingly positive. The interviewer asked her, "How is it, after what he did to you, that you aren't bitter? How do you not go through life hating the man that did this to you?" And the woman replied, "That man took one night of my life. I refuse to give him any more."

So the next time someone or something "makes you mad" or "makes you upset" try to remember that you still can choose again. Maybe not right then in the moment, but when you're ready, you can choose a different reaction, one that serves you better, one that helps you feel more at peace. You can take your power back.