How Do Your Choices and Decisions Make You, You?
Why are choices and decisions so powerful?
You’re bombarded with frequent, loud, often overwhelming messages about conformity. Do this, be that, follow the herd, or get voted off this island Earth. Contribute as expected or be judged as lacking, wanting, and less-than.
Formal schooling is all about learning how to learn for the first 6 years or so. Then you start applying that to the actual gaining of knowledge but to a lesser degree. Facts, figures, and things necessary to pass standardized tests tend to be the focus. You’re taught history, social studies, math, and sciences at the most basic of levels.
What you’re never taught in school is how to be yourself. You’re taught to read, write, communicate with others, and be part of the machine of your given society. You’re never taught how to know yourself, basic psychology is only covered when you reach college (only if you bother with college and take any path along that line), and self-learning is not something you’re taught. Hence, many people consider their formal education complete when High School is over.
The truth of this life is that you are not just a cog in the machine. Rather, you’re a human, being. You’re capable of some pretty amazing things.
First, however, you need to address the messages of society at large, the collective consciousness, and how that impacts your life.
The automation of living subconsciously
Most of the leaders of the world – whether they’re in business, religion, or politics – prefer you and me on autopilot. Live by rote, routine, and habit, subconsciously. Be part of the accepted “norm” and maintain the status quo.
Then, to make maximum profit, they convince you to only color within the lines, fit yourself into the boxes, and be a round peg for a round hole. Don’t deviate, and your reward for the monotony is a steady paycheck and occasional perks like the newest iPhone, a vacation to somewhere exotic for a week, and of course retirement. Remember that the way it is is how it’s always been.
It doesn’t take much to recognize how much bullshit that entails. The gurus, demagogues, and supposedly elite of society aren’t better than you and me. They are not more worthy and deserving. They’ve just broken away from the herd, tasted power, and decided to hoard it for themselves and treat the rest of us like sheep. They’ve done what they tell you can’t and shouldn’t be done so that they can maintain the false control and power they perceive themselves as having.
Recognizing that you have the same power is imperative. Accessing it is easier than you realize. It’s simply a matter of employing active conscious awareness and making choices and decisions.
This is where mindfulness comes in.
Mindfulness is all about choices and decisions
Leaving the rote, routine, and subconscious living behind can be done by working with active conscious awareness.
To use active conscious awareness to make choices and decisions is a matter of mindfulness. To begin practicing mindfulness, you just need to be present, here and now. Then ask yourself what you’re thinking, what and how you’re feeling, what your intentions are, what direction – positive or negative – your approach is, and then take action from there.
Action often implies the physical. The truth is, it’s not literally what you do as much as it’s choices and decisions that you make.
If you’ve not been a regular maker of choices and decisions, you’d be amazed at how often you have opportunities you don’t consider. Even the most minor choices and decisions build strength to make larger and more impressive/more important things in your life. For example, how often do you really think about what you choose to wear, when and how you choose to get out of bed, what you eat, who and what you give your attention to, and other seemingly mundane matters? Odds are it’s less often than you can.
Actively choosing and deciding is how you can gain what little control over your life experience is available to you. Yet that seemingly little control is the key to being who, what, where, how, and why you desire to be.
Choices and decisions empower you
Most of the “power” claimed by leaders, gurus, demagogues, and the like is utterly false. Look at how many emphasize lack of this, scarcity of that, and insufficiency overall to create fear and drive people like a shepherd or pied piper to do their will. It’s frankly astonishing how regularly this occurs and how people just accept it as what it is.
The first step in taking the wheel to drive your life and choose your path is to exercise choices and decisions. Turn off the autopilot, and don’t let yourself follow rote and routine and habit. Instead, choose and decide things. Actively and consciously apply mindfulness to make more choices and decisions.
This is the most empowering thing you can do for yourself. You are the only you that is, and you are not just here to exist and survive this life. You’re here to experience, explore, grow, evolve, and thrive.
That’s not necessarily a grandiose notion. You don’t need to find your calling, meet your twin flame, or any other romanticized ideal for perfection. It’s simply a matter of being aware – actively consciously aware – here and now. That empowers mindfulness and grants you the control you have every right to.
This is, however, for you and you alone. You can’t do jack shit about anyone or anything else. It’s not selfish to claim a life that lights you up and gives you contentment, satisfaction, and even joy.
Choices and decisions are how you gain control on any level. You, and I mean you, are worthy and deserving of this.
So, what choices and decisions will you make today?
This is the six-hundred and forty-second (642) exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – applying mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.
I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world and empower as many people as I can with conscious reality creation.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-post and share this.
The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. Check out Amazon for my published fiction and nonfiction works.
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