Dear Friend,

How many times have you said (or heard someone say), “I had no choice”? When was the last time you said it, if you can remember? Today I just want to highlight how much power you give away unnecessarily when you affirm that. I mean, sure, sometimes the choice is obvious to you or maybe it’s the only logical or practical choice. But you always have a choice.

And it’s not just in what you do. It’s also in what you think and how you choose to see things. For example, I received an e-mail at 7pm today telling me I had to have something ready by tomorrow at noon. It’s a time-consuming activity that I had not planned on undertaking today, my day of rest. Not that I can’t do it, I just didn’t want to. But, it would be easy to say here, I have no choice. I have to do it. Really I don’t have to do it. But it’s in my best interest to do it, so I will. The other thing I don’t have to do, is see it as a problem. <Insert “whoa moment” here>

You can totally adjust your thinking so that it serves you rather than hinders you. In my case, it helps no one, least of all me, to grumble and get annoyed that I got such short notice to do this activity that I don’t generally enjoy doing anyway. “I can’t help but feel this way” is only true if you make decisions that form the premise for that thought. If you’ve decided, “I hate getting short notice,” then naturally any time you’re given short (or no) notice, you will be upset.

As for actions, no matter how dire the situation, I still maintain you always have a choice. We don’t need to go into the grizzlies of this, but if you want to, feel free to write back!

Either way, I find it really helps me to realise that my thoughts, my outlook, and my actions are always my choice. No one else has control over that. It’s both empowering and challenging, because now you see all the responsibility lies with you. But you can choose to see that challenge as an obstacle or an opportunity. It’s always up to you.

All my love,

Angel xo