Larry Crabb was on a flight from Detroit to Ft Lauderdale. He’d finished the uninspiring main meal and was looking longingly at the chocolate éclair in the corner of his meal tray. But he had a dilemma. He preferred to enjoy his sweets with coffee and the coffee trolley was still at the other end of the plane.
He had a choice. Eat the eclair and enjoy it in the moment or double the enjoyment by waiting a further 10 minutes for coffee. He chose to wait.
But, "I was chargrined to notice my hand grasping the fork and moving steadily towards the eclair." In fact Larry was two thirds of the way through his eclair when the coffee arrived, but the last third tasted amazing with a sip of coffee before and after!
He had a choice. Eat the eclair and enjoy it in the moment or double the enjoyment by waiting a further 10 minutes for coffee. He chose to wait.
But, "I was chargrined to notice my hand grasping the fork and moving steadily towards the eclair." In fact Larry was two thirds of the way through his eclair when the coffee arrived, but the last third tasted amazing with a sip of coffee before and after!
Life is full of choices. There are the obvious ones … which university … what career path … who will I marry … should we take the redundancy? They are the ones that shape the direction of our life.
Then there are the choices we make everyday without much thought … Woolworths or Aldi … sourdough or five grain … mow the lawn today or leave it until tomorrow. One way or another they probably make little difference but they need to be made.
Many people are satisfied to live a comfortable life like that, choosing or not choosing, as life demands ... reacting to life rather than proactively engaging. But my choices are my responsibility. I have the opportunity to respond rather than react in my relationships and mostly those choices take courage. They are the deliberate choices of the heart.
Compassion rather than indifference … kindness and thoughtfulness instead of self-centredness … forgiveness in place of retaliation … vulnerability rather than safety.
These are the inner choices, the ones that shape my character. They are costly. They require sacrifice, and my willingness to choose the good of another over my own agenda. It is the choice to love and move towards you rather than withdrawing ... that can be scary but it's the path to deeper intimacy and richer, more honest relating.
I often hear people say, "I didn't have a choice", but there is always a choice. Not choosing is a choice and prevarication comes at a cost to you and to those around you, sometime a high price. All our choices have consequences.
Choices are an integral part of every facet of my life. They have the power to change my life and greatly impact others. I can choose to be grateful and positive about life or to have a victim mentality .... to choose an abundance mindset or the mentality of scarcity ... to choose my attitude every day.
Holocaust survivor, Viktor E. Frankl, said, "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances".
Then there are the choices we make everyday without much thought … Woolworths or Aldi … sourdough or five grain … mow the lawn today or leave it until tomorrow. One way or another they probably make little difference but they need to be made.
Many people are satisfied to live a comfortable life like that, choosing or not choosing, as life demands ... reacting to life rather than proactively engaging. But my choices are my responsibility. I have the opportunity to respond rather than react in my relationships and mostly those choices take courage. They are the deliberate choices of the heart.
Compassion rather than indifference … kindness and thoughtfulness instead of self-centredness … forgiveness in place of retaliation … vulnerability rather than safety.
These are the inner choices, the ones that shape my character. They are costly. They require sacrifice, and my willingness to choose the good of another over my own agenda. It is the choice to love and move towards you rather than withdrawing ... that can be scary but it's the path to deeper intimacy and richer, more honest relating.
I often hear people say, "I didn't have a choice", but there is always a choice. Not choosing is a choice and prevarication comes at a cost to you and to those around you, sometime a high price. All our choices have consequences.
Choices are an integral part of every facet of my life. They have the power to change my life and greatly impact others. I can choose to be grateful and positive about life or to have a victim mentality .... to choose an abundance mindset or the mentality of scarcity ... to choose my attitude every day.
Holocaust survivor, Viktor E. Frankl, said, "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances".
RSS Feed