Choices

I always write on paper what I'm going to write in this blog. Something about the action of putting pen to paper helps me to bring my thoughts to life. I've been using a journal that I found in my night table that was mostly empty (happy to say it's now mostly full). This morning I decided to browse through the pages which were filled before I took on this endeavor and I came across some things I had written down on last years retreat (my annual retreat to the Mercy Center which I go on every year with friends the last weekend in January - WOOHOO!). They came from something entitiled "Living Simply - CHOICES" - and I'd like to share them with you.

It takes courage to commit to your own deepest desires...(even when others doubt, I can summon the courage to take my deepest hopes and dreams seriously. In fact, to live fully I MUST take them seriously.)

In many ways it has always been easier to act as if there were not options; as if we didn't have a choice...(I am grateful that I have choices, and I will exercise them to sustain and enhance my life.)

Success is such an enticing word...(I can define "success" for me and be pleased to call myself "successful" on my own terms.)

I would like it to be different but it can't be now...(today I will do one thing that moves me toward where I want to be.)

People either have results in their lives or reasons why they don't...(I can trade in my "reasons" for the results I seek.)

People on their death beds don't say, "Gee, I wish I'd spent more time at the office." They say, I wish I'd spent more time with my spouse or kids, or exploring nature...(I will arrange my life so that I can spend more time ______________.)

There is no answer. There is never going to be an answer. There never has been an answer...(Just as every human being is physically different, so each person's answer to life's meaning is individual. Find your own answer. That's the answer.)

Your best way is not mine...(I will learn from others while setting my own course.)

In a world of appearances, be sure to weigh the underlying substance...(wisdom and grace may wear strange coats and live in old houses.)

Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly...(when I have not been silly for a long time, life loses some of it's sweetness.)

For the measure you give will be the measure you get back. Luke 6:38...(I will be with others the way I want others to be with me.)

Some really good thoughts to ponder as you go on with your day. Choice...it's a beautiful thing!

xo,
Carrie