12 Letters to Rock Your World – “I have a choice”
I’m honored to have the amazing Mary Helen Conroy, Reinvention Coach from Life Is a Daring Adventure, as our guest blogger this week.
It was January 21, 1991 at 8:31 am when I hung up the phone. I had just asked for an appointment with a social worker, my husband was in the hospital for 21 days for clinical depression, I was a single mother of two boys for the first time in my life working full time and my life was a mess. I was tired.
Some moments in your life become defining ones. Moments that you truly never forget like a child’s birth at exactly 6:31 am or 2:14 am. Or the moment you knew, truly saw with clarity that your life could be different.
For me that January morning, it was the clarity of 4 words, a mere 12 letters formed in a way that would rock my world forever.
“I have a choice”
As an adult we often live our lives with many strange linguistic commands. “I should”, “I must”, “I need to”, “l have to”. So many little phrases that take away our time. Those phrases that really are powerful for the person, organization, or thing that commands we do something on their schedule. Their short phrases direct our actions to urgency.
The 3 C’s of life: Choices, Chances, Changes -You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change
“I have a choice.” I walked away from the phone that day, never the same. I realized that all the should’s and mandates of my life were false. I could choose to color my world with joy, I could choose to create a home of love, I could choose to be me.
You would have laughed if you saw me that January morning walking around my house. “I have a choice to hang that picture on the wall where I want it to be, because I’m worthy of putting such beauty on my wall.” “I have a choice to do the laundry, because I’m grateful to have clean clothes.” I have a choice to go to work, because I can serve others and provide for my family.” And my favorite that day, “I have a choice to put the toilet paper on the roll over the top, because I like that better.”
“I have a choice”
I don’t have to DO anything. I choose to bring into my life what I need and want. Ok, I know about those pesky consequences, but that’s part of choice too, isn’t it.
I heard a client say to me once when we had a similar conversation. “But, I have to go to work at 7am.” I, of course, pointed out, that “no, it was a choice”. She fought me on this. She too had forgotten that all the little moments, all the ticks of the clock are really choice makers.
I am who I am today because of the choices I made yesterday – Eleanor Roosevelt
So for this moment in time at 9:01am, I choose to write about just four little words, and you?
Mary Helen has reinvented herself many, many, many times and enjoys working besides those who want to discover with her that Life’s a Daring Adventure and I’m not done yet!
Learn more at www.lifesadaringadventure.com or contact Mary Helen at Lifesadaringadventure@gmail.com
To get more positivity tips like this delivered to your inbox, sign up here.
Tina Hallis, Ph.D., a professional speaker and consultant for The Positive Edge, a company dedicated to helping individuals and organizations increase their positivity to improve the quality of people’s work lives and the quality of company cultures. She is certified in Positive Psychology, an authorized partner for Everything DiSC®, and a Professional Member of the National Speaker’s Association.
