Choices. You make them all day.

[beautifulearth83]

I'm writing this post for myself, but also for others, as I think it will apply to just about any rut.

 

Every day you have choices. For example, you wake up and brush you teeth. The more you brush your teeth and the better you brush your teeth, the nicer your teeth will be, the better your health will be (it is said that taking care of your teeth and gums affects your health because they are of course linked to your bloodstream), you're less likely to pay more expensive dental bills, you may attract somebody and keep somebody because of your good breath, etc. etc.

 

And these things don't exactly happen immediately. Our choices accumulate. It's like saving money. A few cents at first don't seem like much, but it adds up. I once read that life moves slower and more organically than people think, just as you water flowers each day until they grow.

 

I think this also applies to how we interact with others and our good deeds. I think that our habits in the way we speak, in how we present ourselves and use our bodies adds up. It's like anything else.

 

And part of growing up is being able to say no. To choose not to have a certain type of conversation, to not involve yourself in things that aren't productive. I've gotten much better at walking away from others who I thought would bring me down, it's not always easy, but when I know it is a decision I'm making for my own good, I don't feel so bad.

 

Which brings me to emotions, and feelings. I think part of growing up and making choices is sucking it up. Learning not to feel bad and go for it. And 9 times out of 10, you are right. In a way, everybody is right about what's good for them. Example: Have you ever been in a situation, and you just felt that something about it wasn't good for you, but you stuck around, or chose to be optimistic about it, give it a chance? Perhaps there are exceptions, but most of the time, you find that you were right. I think that we all know what is best for us. I think we all know what we need. But how much of it are we doing? What sort of choices are we making throughout the day?

 

I discovered much of this when I was looking through my browser history. I could see patterns in the things I would look up. I decided to categorize them in a text document and ask myself how productive they were. For example: Every now and then I would look up job postings in my field, but why was I looking at them, and what was I actually doing to approach these opportunities?

 

Making good choices also means dropping bad habits. See, when you learned about good choices at a young age, it was right and wrong. It had moral undertones. Or perhaps God would punish you. But now, when you're an Adult, right or wrong is defined by you. It is about what is right for you, what is wrong for you. So, bad habits... We all have them, and as hard as they are to kick, once you begin replacing these things with better activities, you'll see the worth.

 

I'm not sure what else to say about this right now, but I think you catch my drift. There's so much that we can do to help ourselves, but it takes time, not like, you just wait for it to happen, but it takes time with your efforts, they add up.

[Philosoraptor]

I've always believed that time heals nothing, it's what you do with that time that makes a difference. Even the masses here for heartbreak make a choice on how long they suffer by every choice they make after their relationship has ended. Life is nothing but a long string of choices. The trick to making the best one is to trust yourself and follow what you believe will bring you the best chance at happiness, to live without regret as you know the choices you made are the best for yourself and those around you.

 

I'll leave you with a couple of my favorite quotes related to choice and regret:

 

"The rise or fall of a civilization can depend on the decision made in a fragment of a second. There are many seconds in a day. How many seconds can you regret? How many choices?"

 

"You made the choice, and it was uncoerced. For you to question such a choice is not simply useless, but harmful. Such doubts will chain the mind to an endless circle of pointless speculation and self-recrimination. You should prepare yourself to live with the consequences of your decisions, whatever they may be."