You are not the name you were given.
You are not the country whose borders you happened to be born within.
You are not the colour of your hair.
You are not the job you work.
You are not the words you speak.
You are not the thoughts you think.
You are one thing and one thing only: the choices you make.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.“
Victor Frankl – “Man’s Search for Meaning”
Believing a lie doesn’t make it true. And refusing to exercise your power to choose doesn’t let you off the hook. It doesn’t strip you of this power. It just wastes it.
No matter how cornered you feel by circumstances, or by the other people in your life, or even by the voices in your own head… at any moment you are free to remember the truth: that you always have the power to choose, to go with what is right and what is true for you.
Nobody can bestow you this power upon you – it lies within you, itching to be used – nor can anybody ever take it away from you.
I decided a long time ago that whatever years I had remaining here would be spent living this lesson as fully as I could. Exercising my power to choose, and in doing so discovering who I am more deeply every day.
I’m not telling you this because I find it easy to put into practice. There is nothing about this that is easy. No, I’m telling you this because whilst it might be excruciatingly difficult to act upon, it’s worth every penny and more. There is not a more worthy way to live than to consciously commit to doing what you believe is right.
I invite you to join me.