Reflection
I set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life then,
so that you and your descendants may live.
Deuteronomy 30: 15-20
Life is not meant to be rigid or stagnant. It is ever changing, ever moving, ever evolving into new expressions. To be in a state of permanent changelessness and the ceasing of vital mental activity is death. When we see the possibility that things may be viewed with a new perspective we choose life. We choose life when we allow ourselves to evolve and change. We choose life when we are open-minded. We choose death when we are closed to newness and cling to our limited views. When we are stuck in our own certitude and rigidity and self-centeredness, we choose death. We choose death when we stand in judgement of others and criticize their ways instead of being open to the gifts they offer. Within ourselves is the power to grow into a new vision with a new spirit. We have the power to choose and live.
Prayer
Gift me with wisdom so that I may always choose the path that leads to life for others and for myself.
Action
Reflect on ideas and changes that you have difficulty accepting. Why? Are they potentially life-giving or death dealing? What are you afraid to lose? What might you gain?
Suggested Reading;
See, today I set before you life and prosperity, death and disaster.
If you obey the commandments of your God and follow God’s ways,
Your God will bless you…But if your heart strays, if you let yourself be drawn
Into worshipping other gods, you will certainly perish…I set before you life or
death, blessing or curse. Choose life then, so that you and your descendants
may live.
Deuteronomy 30: 15-20
Humankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Make a promise to yourself that you will always choose growth over safety and dreams over fear.
Brittany Burgunder
Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.
Karen Kaiser Clark
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
J.K. Rowling
I discovered I always have choices and sometimes it’s only a choice of attitude.
Judith M. Knowlton
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.
Viktor E. Frankl
Transformation occurs when there has been a learning lesson and you choose to create a better choice.
Andrea Reibmayr
Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.
Buddha
Most people can look back over the years and identify a time and place at which their lives changed significantly. Whether by accident or design, these are the moments when, because of a readiness within us and collaboration with events occurring around us, we are forced to seriously reappraise ourselves and the conditions under which we live and to make certain choices that will affect the rest of our lives.
Frederick F. Flack
He not busy being born is busy dying.
Bob Dylan
You always do what you want to do. This is true with every act. You may say that you had to do something, or that you were forced to, but actually, whatever you do, you do by choice. Only you have the power to choose for yourself.
W. Clement Stone