Yesterday I was thinking of where my life is now, and considered a time earlier in the year when I was faced with a big life altering decision.
The specifics of the decision aren't important. What IS important is that at the time I wished I could have seen 15 years into the future to weigh out each option. Where would each decision take me? And which one was going to make me happier? I thought that if I could be told from the beginning which one was going to make me happier, then the decision would have been easier to make.
Yesterday I tried to picture what each future might have looked like - and in my mind, each one looked equally happy. Well that didn't make sense! One should have been clearly better than the other. But as I thought about it, I realized that I would have been satisfied either way. And I never really needed to "see" the future after all. So which one really was better? Well, it was all up to me in the first place.
No one could have told me which future was going to end up the better one, because it was all based on my choices. Which future did I choose to be happy about?
The decision that I made was absolutely the best one, I'm sure :) And it's because I chose to make it the best.
This is not to say that our circumstances don't affect us, and that we aren't somewhat swayed by the situations that surround us. But I am not a believer in fate. We can act for ourselves and create our own futures. However bad the present may seem, the path that we walk moving forward is what decides our ultimate happiness.
I've believed this for a long time, but looking through this lens at my recent life choices made everything all the more clear.
As I thought about this yesterday, I asked myself if the decision that I made really was the best one after all? And the answer to myself was a resounding YES - because I chose it to be that way :)
And as I look down at the smiling baby asleep in my arms, I have never been more grateful for choices.
3 comments:
Looking down at a smiling, sleeping baby makes me grateful too and brings me to many new insights. :)
So interesting how that works! Often when we are making choices the way God would have us choose them, we can drop one good thing for a better, future choice. At least, that is how I (mostly) feel about not finishing my PhD. :o)
Cheers, Steph!
Loved reading this, and I totally know what you mean about looking back at your life's big moment decisions and being totally happy with the choices you made and how everything worked out. It is what life is all about :) I love it! thanks for sharing!
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