The Choice Is Yours

“Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.”

This sums up my life the past few weeks! I know it’s been a couple of months and there is a huge gap in what’s been going on in my life, but today I feel like writing about the present! I’ll go back and get you caught up, don’t worry, but right now, I’m going to choose to be in the present!

I posted this quote on my facebook page and my sister asked me if I was the pigeon or the statue. Today I feel like the pigeon!! Sorry to all of those statues out there in this moment! You know when you just have one of those times in life?!? This is mine! AAAAHHHH!! I’m sitting in my freezing classroom, on minimal sleep, after taking a cold shower for the 2nd day in a row! We all know I wear my heart on my sleeve and that means showing how I feel. I’ve just been in a bad mood recently!

But then, just as quick as those emotions have come, I’m choosing to acknowledge them and change them. That’s the thing I’m learning more and more. I have the right to choose if that is how I’m going to spend my time and energy! This day, this very moment, is a chance to make a difference. I can’t allow my life to pass by me while I’m feeling sorry for myself. Sure bad things happen. Things don’t work out the way I think they should. I can’t let that dictate how I’m going to live though. It’s my choice to focus on all the negative things. I bet even on your worst day, there are just as many good things that are happening to you. It’s just a whole lot easier to focus on all the things that aren’t going right for me!

We all know that relationships are very important to me. It’s so interesting to look at them and see how they are all so different. I’m surrounded by people who have different forces driving them in their lives. I think we would all love to say that the Lord is our driving force! However, we all know, and I will be the first to admit it, many times that is not the case. Big picture, He is, but it’s all of those day to day forces that we get caught up in. I look around and I see people being forced by love… a new love or a love that has been stoked again. I see people living out of fear… fear of the unknown, fear of not being good enough! I see people yearning to be accepted! I see people fighting this inner battle that knocks them down time and time again. I see people consuming themselves in their work so they don’t have to face everything going on around them. I see people who are driven by the fact that they are just trying to stay afloat. I am thankful for the people I see that are driven by a passion for others; that passion for life that others can’t take away. I see people who are driven by adventure. I see people push through all of the junk and be optimistic. I see people who I think are a great reminder and example of the love and grace that the Lord offers us daily.

It’s easy to get so focused on ourselves and the things we’re going through, that we totally miss out on all that is around us! I know, by me being the ‘pigeon’ the past couple of days, I’ve missed out on the opportunity to share that love and peace with others. Sometimes we just need a good kick in the butt! I have a friend who always used to say “You just need to put on your big girl pants and do it!” Amen, sister!

Some of you may not have realized it, but today (at least for me here in Korea) is “Ash Wednesday.” I’ve really been contemplating what that means. Yeah, it means giving something up and I’ve been trying to decide on that, but it’s so much more than that! If nothing else, it’s an amazing reminder of what Jesus has done for each of us. Not b/c He had to, but b/c He CHOSE to!

CHOICE—it’s such a powerful thing! I can honestly say that is something I’ve learned more and more about while being here. I know I’ve shared this before, but I feel like I need to do it again. We are given so many choices in life that I think we just start to take them for granted! We have the choice to respond to things in a certain way. We have the choice to love others. We have the choice to make a choice or do nothing at all! This is such an incredible thing that is offered to us! I can tell the difference between the days that I naturally am having a good day or if I have to choose to have a good day. I know it’s not easy… boy do I know! Believe me, I don’t always succeed in having a ‘good day’… case in point the past couple of days, but I’m learning that I need to be intentional. I also remind myself that I’m human and I will fall short many times. That’s all part of the adventure though!

Wow, and what an adventure it’s been! It’s so easy to get caught up in the mundane day after day. But today I am choosing to step back and take in the whole picture! It really is breath-taking if I do say so!

I was talking to my friend last night and she told me a story of her 8 year old son. When faced with a difficult situation in front of him (attempting to climb over a fence with skates on) he said, “Mom, I was made to do difficult things!” I think we can learn a lot about life from the kids in our lives. I believe we were all ‘made to do difficult things.’ The difference is though, that some people will choose to ‘put on the big girl pants and do it,’ and some will choose to turn the other way and continue to walk in circles!

May each of you discover what your driving force is in your life! May you choose to make the choices in your life! And may you believe that you were ‘made to do difficult things!’