Each and every day, there are decisions you can make that will define:
- who you are,
- what you stand for,
- where you will end up,
- who you will impact,
- and how you will live.
The purpose of today’s post is to highlight the abundance of choice that you have – in the little things, and the big things. If you RECOGNISE your options, you can learn to RESPOND according to your beliefs and values.
Think before you act on a decision. Question your motives. Question the possible outcomes and consequences.
Our choices can be more obvious depending on circumstance. When we’re in another culture, new challenges are provoked that make us more conscious of our decisions, and therefore more cautious and calculated in our responses. If we can THINK BEYOND our own cultural, political, social, economical conditioning – then we can question the world around us and uncover the abundance of choice we have.
Why is this recognition and illumination so important?
CONSCIOUS CHOICES = PURPOSEFUL PRIORITISING
In life we need priorities. If we don’t prioritise, we will become consumed with people and places and forget to focus on the purpose behind the people and places that appear in our path. You can learn to purposefully choose your priorities in life, and in doing so, you will find true perspective.
True perspective – that you are not a product of circumstance, but a person of convictions, conscious choice-making, constant conditioning, and contentment.
The purpose of prioritising isn’t to decrease your abundance of choice – but to increase your perspective. When you cast your choices into an arena battle and force yourself to choose one, you test your own judgement. In the judge’s chair, you can formulate an objective opinion of the opportunities and possible outcomes. You learn to set standards, to mark a criteria against your choices, to weigh in the value and risk, the positive and negative, the right or wrong. This arena isn’t a space for criticism, condemnation, or comparison of your choices or other’s choices – but a space for critique and deep contemplation. Your choices might come at a cost, but your prioritising will have a profit in the long-term.
When you make a choice, from the arena where there is an abundance of choice, all the battling results in a break through. When you vouch for one victory, you strengthen the force of your ‘yes’ and ‘no’. In time you will see progress, and your perceptions will become stronger. Further, if you are Christian, you can strengthen your standing on the promises of God’s Word, and His Spirit will give you the nudge-nudge towards the choices that will build the Kingdom.
The arena isn’t a cavern of your conscience that caves you into certain choices. Choices can be changed. Choices can be re-evaluated. But choices do require commitment. Choices are continual. Don’t forget that perspective is a process. Enter into the arena, enter into the conscious choice-making, and see whether the purposeful prioritising will bring perspective to each moment and each day.
To inspire you to see the choices around you, below is a glimpse into my Indian Insights on choice, prioritising, perspective and perception:
ARE YOU: Held up? Stuck in traffic? Running late?
CHOICE: Patience or Frustration
Which will you choose?
DO YOU: See someone struggling around you? See a cripple in need of assistance? Witness an accident causing chaos? Encounter a disaster that has occurred? Find disorder or mess in your workplace?
CHOICE: Ignore or Aid
Passivity or Activity
Which will you choose?
HAVE YOU: Wished for more? Wandered what-if? Been discontent with your circumstances?
CHOICE: Live for now
or Long for tomorrow
Which will you choose?
There are many more alternatives in the arena of an abundance of choice. May you begin to change your choices and prioritise plans, people, and passions. May your decisions be a direction and definition for your character. The abundance of choices around us are not here to overwhelm us, they are an opportunity for optimisation and ownership of our identity in Christ. {Check out Matthew 7:13-14}
An abundance of wisdom wishes and Kingdom kisses, Xx