By Fr. Hedwig Lewis, SJ –
We live by choices
Animals live and move by instincts. When hungry they hunt for food; when threatened they flee, when confronted they attack their opponents, they mate during the mating season. Their lives are programmed by their genes and their environment; they have no choice.
In contrast, humans live by choices. Genes and the environment do programme your life, no doubt, but you transcend them through your intellect. To choose means taking your pick from two or more options, alternatives, opportunities, preferences. You can choose your responses, and you can ‘programme’ yourself creatively with your “bio-computer” – in order to reach your goals.
You have the power to break the chains of slavery to undesirable habits and live in freedom of spirit. One definition of power is that it is “strength applied to a specific task”. Powerful people are clear about their choices. They have sorted out their priorities, and their actions reflect their choices. High achievers know their most important values and focus on them. They value success in one or more areas of life, and devote their time, energy, persistence, skills and hard work to achieving it. When you know who you are and what you value, bringing all your strength to bear on a task or problem will yield enormous results in a short time. When you have the courage to clarify our priorities, life becomes much less complicated and you will achieve greater success.
YOU – The Powerful Chooser
Your life was given to you by God, and YOU are given the grace to be a co-creator of your life. You can choose growth and happiness for yourself or defeat and disaster. Sow a ‘good thought’ and your will reap a rich harvest of goodness attracting goodness into your life. You will be filled with positive energy and be able to act positively.
So, the power of choosing how you would like your life to be lies with you. YOU have the power to choose the kind of life you want, and you are NOT the victim of circumstances or history, as most people tend to believe of themselves. However, the power to making effective choices is not something that comes automatically. It is a skill you have to learn.
If you observe your actions carefully, you may realize that many of your choices revolve around avoiding the negative things in life. You have learned how to make the choices so that you can stay; longer in your comfort zone so as to avoid inconvenience or disappointment that may make you unhappy. Thus, you may; make choices that have to do with short-term goals instead of aiming high.
According to the “Law of Attraction”, like attracts like. When you focus on something, that becomes like a powerful magnet. It attracts whatever is conducive for it to grow. Negative thoughts and feelings attractive negativities; positive thoughts and feelings attractive positivities. Both negativity and positivity can be somewhat addictive and set off a vicious cycle. That is, if you choose to hold onto negative feelings in your life, you are choosing to create even more negative experience; so for the positive. You can choose to believe that life controls you or you are in control of life – with divine help.
If you are a people pleaser, you will make choices in order to please other people, especially those who control you, so as not to get them upset with you. The most important person that you have to please is yourself. Are you going to use your power of freedom to choose what YOU want in life?
Hedwig Lewis SJ is an educationist and writer. He has authored over 40 professional and psycho-spiritual books. The above article has been adapted from his book Living Passionately, 2009, Gujarat Sahitya Prakash- http://www.gspbooks.in/aboutus.php
Used with permission.