How have you been these last few days?  Are you curious yet about today's focus on 'Choosing to Choose?" 

What a can of worm we are opening here!  There are hundreds, if not thousands of articles and books written on the subject of free will, choice and intentionality, with probably as many proponents as there are opponents of the concept of choice.  Don't worry, though.  I will limit myself to a few simple questions and ideas.

Let me be clear here.  Obviously, based on the focus of 'Choosing to Choose' I favour the idea that we have and are at choice in our lives.  (I am borrowing the title from the futurist Avrom E. King, who wrote the first edition of his Choosing to Choose in 1998).

At the same time, I do NOT support the simplistic notion that has been disseminated through some of the New Age materials that we CAUSE everything that occurs in our lives.  Many factors come together to create the perceived reality in which we find ourselves.

It's also important to consider that we do not live in isolation.  When we add up our individual thoughts, acts and behaviours, we end up more with more than the sum of the parts.  Life, the way I understand it, cannot be explained in terms of a straight-forward equation or as the direct result of cause and effect in most cases.

Let's take the most recent events in Haiti as an example.  Did the Haitians choose to have their country in ruins, thousands killed, even more seriously injured for life, and even more homeless with no food, water or shelter?  Certainly not on any conscious level that we know about!  Sometimes, life happens.  As Harold Kushner states, sometimes, bad things happen to good people.

So, where does choice enter here?  Choice enters into our response to the situation.  Each individual in Haiti, each one of us in the rest of the world, individually and collectively, has choices to make now. 

What do we decide to do and how are we letting ourselves be motivated by the unfathomable earthquake that shook Haiti?  I want to point out that inaction and indifference are also choices we make. 

Do you get overwhelmed by the magnitude of the pain, suffering and destruction?  Or do you find a way to allow the events to move you to the level of thinking in possibilities, either directly related to the situation in Haiti or by extension, you might be encouraged to deal with an arduous situation in your family or home town.

If you move yourself to a more conscious and intentional place from which to live, you become mindful of your inner and outer world by observing your thoughts and actions. 

What are you broadcasting to yourself and to those around you?  How do the beliefs you hold about yourself and the world influence what you send out and what you, in turn, are ready, willing, and able to receive from the broadcasts within and around you?  Perhaps you feel stuck in a certain set of perceptions and beliefs that no longer serve you at this time.

Are you taking the time to be still and to listen–to yourself and others?  What is the wise inner genius inside of you telling you?  What outdated beliefs are limiting you now?  How do they determine who you are presenting at the moment?  And how does that influence your BEINGNESS in this world?

I believe it's worth considering those questions as well as the next ones: Do I like the person I see when I act/think/behave in this way?  What do I like or dislike about the person I become when I go down this particular road?

Then continue and ask:  How do I wish to INVEST my time and energy?  Do I want to go down this path?  Or can I perhaps choose a different path or response where I really wish to invest myself, my time and energy into it? 

Remember to respond from a place of gratitude and grace for what was and is, regardless of how difficult or incomprehensible that situation might be.  Sometimes, it may take a while to get there and that's okay. 

Byron Katie refers to this process as learning to 'Love What Is.'  It is only when you can fully appreciate the present-the what is-that you can bring forward movement, from the inside & insight out, to your life.

That's the third stage of the process of Getting UnStressed & UnStuck (GUS). So, remind yourself to bring yourself to a place of choice so you can see your possibilities. 

I wish you all the very best and trust I will hear from you.