“We cannot live a choiceless life. Every day, every moment, every second, there is a choice. If it were not so we would not be individuals.” Ernest Holmes

Do you believe this? Do you believe that you have a choice? What if something happens like a car accident or an illness? Does this statement still hold true? Whenever I use this quote in a class or conversation, the first thing that will come up is the Holocaust. I’m not sure why people always go to the most dramatic experience when exploring the idea of being at choice. Is it because we want to prove it wrong?

I think  we are misinterpreting the statement. We think that the people in a dramatic experience actually chose the experience. I don’t know if that is true, and it doesn’t really matter in relationship to my present life.  It’s my job to prove this statement for me.

I believe that this statement merely means that we are always at choice. He even goes on to say, “We have the right to choose what we wish to experience. We have the right to choose the kind of companions with whom we wish to associate, to say in what city and in what type of house we would like to live. We are individuals and the only way we can be individuals is to be spontaneous.”

Yesterday, someone actually said to me, “it must be nice to live in Hawaii,” with a sarcastic tone. Well, yes, I chose to live here and you can too.

I have the opportunity to have a lot of conversations with people in my profession. I do spiritual counseling, and many people come to me just to ask a question.  I feel that this idea of being at choice is behind much of our misery or joy. We think we are not at choice. We even make decisions about our life, and then say, we had to do it that way. Well, that’s a choice, too. I think if we could accept the idea that we are at choice all the time, our lives would begin to expand in the direction we CHOOSE to take them.

The things is…we have to remember we are responsible for the consequences of our choices. There is a Law of Cause and Effect in place, and it’s always working. Cause is Effect. Thoughts are things.

I invite us to look at our lives and reflect on our choices and where they have brought us. Then, we can know that we can decide again in any moment. We can make another choice, even if it is a choice of attitude about where we are at.

Yesterday, I wrote about an attitude of gratitude about everything. Well, I know that gratitude is a choice. The more grateful I am for everything in my life. The more the tides of my life begin to turn in a way to give me more to be grateful for. Gratitude is a choice, too.

We are at choice or we would not be individuals. We are all unique individuals, living life’s journey with every choice we make. It doesn’t matter where we began or where we are. The Power of Choice is always present. It’s never too late to choose again. We are not bound by our past. I know this is true for me.