Let me just start by admitting I can be a major cranky pants baby. I can whine about my bad hair, long lines, and limitations. Like this stupid foot injury that has kept me from running. And the whole Polar Vortex conspiracy against Minnesota which has made doing anything outside (my spiritual pathway) virtually impossible because by the time you get all the layers on that you need to survive in minus a bazillion, you have to go to the bathroom and so it takes you all day to get in a walk around the lake and you don’t get all the other stuff done you’re supposed to do.
However, with this One-Word-Choose-Life-thing I’m trying not to be (a cranky pants baby, that is). Which has led me back again and again to two truths and a lie:
1. No matter what, no matter when, no matter where, we have choices.
Where do you feel stuck in cranky pants baby mode? Right now, think…What choices of attitude, action, or reaction do you have that would mean choosing life in the situation that comes to mind?
I can’t run, for right now (limitation), but I can bike (choice). I can’t bike outside (limitation), but I can bike inside on a stationary bike (choice).
I hate being inside, so I could whine and resist, but I’m blessed to have a facility I can use to exercise so instead I’m choosing to thank God for that (granted, sometimes through gritted teeth!).
2. Everything counts. Everything. Something is always better than nothing. You can’t do all of the things, but you can do something. What is it in your situation?
Friday I pushed. I went to the gym (that I hate), and biked 12 miles hard and fast (for me, at least). I felt great. I felt proud of myself. I felt like I had triumphed over the Polar Vortex conspiracy and the foot demon conspiracy and all of the bad things in the world.
Saturday I was back. I pushed again and biked hard, but only did 6 miles. I could think, “LOSER!”, but instead I chose to say, “Everything is something.” I needed to focus on the small ways I had chosen life.
The LIE? “It’s all or nothing.” The perfect ten mile run in 70 degree weather that feels like floating on air with a hot guy holding an umbrella drink at the end… or NOTHING.
You can choose to turn something off, do something new, make a phone call, thank someone, say “no”, say “yes”, listen…And every little thing you do to choose life counts. Celebrate that!
What’s the one something you can do today to choose life that isn’t everything, but still counts? Is it words? Attitude? Actions?
