“We cannot live a choiceless life. Every day, every moment, every second, there is choice. If it were not so we would not be individuals. We have the right to choose what we wish to experience.” Ernest Holmes (SOM143)

Have you ever been at a crossroad in your life, a time when you know you have to make a choice for one thing or another, for one experience or another, for one life or another? It is not always easy to make a choice. In these moments, you might be worried that you will make the wrong choice, so, you stay stuck. You do nothing, instead. You remain frozen in time. I think this is actually a good thing because from my experience, I have made choices to move ahead before I am ready. I have made choices simply to make a change without any thought of the consequences of that change or without changing myself first. Then, I have found myself in the same place in another location or experience. You know the old saying, “Wherever you go, there you are.” This is because we haven’t made the choice to change ourselves first.

What does that mean to change yourself? Well, if you want something in life, you have to be equal to it. You have to have the consciousness for it. You can’t just say, I want this and expect it to show up easily and gracefully. It takes a person with the consciousness of whatever that is to bring that choice forward.  It also takes the understanding of how the Laws of the Universe work. There is the Spirit, which is us – volition, choice, spontaneity. Then, there is the Law that is exact and always says yes. It is automatic and acts according to our belief and feeling. Our choices must have feeling. Our intention sends our energy out and our feeling brings our choices back to us.

When my husband, Rev. Dr. Patrick Feren and I finally made the choice to come to Kauai and to start CSL Kauai, I was most definitely ready for that choice. I was equal to that choice. I had the consciousness for that choice. However, before that time came, I went through many changes and trials and expansions and setbacks. It wasn’t easy; however, something drove me. It was the love and belief in a Principle that I knew could not fail me. I knew that the Principle of my Word would be fulfilled. I saw it as complete. The same thing happened when we came to this new building we occupy at the Hongwanji Mission property. We knew that our choice was to move and that this choice would set everything into motion for success.

I am at a similar crossroads right now. I am ready to take a leap into a greater existence as Rita. I feel it. It is calling me. I am in the process of solidifying my choice, of believing in my choice. I am poised on the brink of a great possibility ready to leap. I have everything I need to do so. I have my Word, the Law and then bold steps.  

If you are in a state of wanting something for your life, and yet you do not have it, what do you think is holding you back? Many would blame it on not having enough money, or not having enough time, or that we are too old, or too young, or we don’t know enough people, or a million other reasons why it can’t be. However, do we understand that the first step is to make a choice, no matter what our life looks like right now? Choices aren’t relegated by outside conditions. They are relegated by consciousness. Our freedom of choice must be exercised first. There is a quote in the Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes that says that states we have the right to have the life we want to experience, to live where we want to live to be with the people we choose to be with. However, many people do not exercise this choice. They stay stuck where they are. They do not understand that there is an immutable Law that responds by corresponding to our choices, which must be backed by a mental equivalent. Everything starts in mind first.

I have a formula for this. It starts with the freedom to choose in mind what it is we want. Again, it isn’t about waiting for outside circumstances to change. If we are waiting, that it never happen. We have to make the choice first? How do we want to live? Who do we want to be with? Where do we want to live? Make a choice. After the choice is made, then everything that follows must be aligned with that choice. Are we willing to say no to that which doesn’t move our choice forward? That’s a choice, too. We have to move our feet in the direction of our choice. Once we continue to align our life with our choice, then we get to open up to receive what comes back to us. Synchronicities, bumps in the road are both signs that we are headed in the wrong or right direction. If we want something, we have to step into it and live it. We have to act as if. This is not fake. This is not fake it, till you make it. This is real. If we have made the choice to be affluent, we can’t wait for money to do so.

Not long ago, I was walking on the beach in the early morning. It was so beautiful that it took my breath away. I asked myself, how did I end up here, living in this beautiful place, doing what I love. The Voice within me was so firm and yet gently. It simply said, “You chose.”

We cannot live a choiceless life and we must take responsibilities for our choices. If we think we will fail, we will bump our head up against failure again and again. If we choose to be successful, we will match our experiences with success. It’s scientific. This is because choice is our birthright. We are wired to make choices and to see them through to fruition. If it were not so, we would just be living in a dream state. We are not meant to live in a dream state. We are meant to have experiences, to learn from them and to get better at playing on the field of life. We are meant to see our choices met with success. We are magnificent and we are meant to live meaningful and joy-filled lives, not without challenges, but without the terrible stress that goes along with those challenges. Life is a journey. Suffering comes from lack of choice and procrastination in making those choices.

What we focus on, what gets our attention is what we experience. It is a choice to focus our attention on this or that. We can have wandering minds or we can have disciplined minds that choose to focus on where we want to go. When we do, we are collapsing energy into form. We do this all the time. The more we focus on what we focus on, the more it repeats itself in our life. It’s scientific. That means we can prove it.

The good news is if we do not like the way things are going, we can change in any moment. We are not stuck. We are free to change the direction of our life in any moment. Nothing is stagnant or final. Choose today whom you will serve. As for me and my house (mind) I will choose the Lord of my being, the Master of my heart, the consciousness of goodness all the days of my life.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Dr. Rita Andriello-Feren, Author and Spiritual Director of CSL Kaua’i

PS: if you want to learn more about the Science of Mind look on chocies, check out our talks on Choice: HERE