Choices in Life
I am reading this great book by an author named Hal Urban. My Mom found a book of his at the Naval Exchange in Virginia and it looked really good, so when I got home I checked a couple out from the Library.
The first one I am reading is called, Life's Greatest Lessons. One particular section that hit me with great interest was about the choices me make in life. Everything we do is because of a choice that we have made. He made a list of the most important choices we get to make and I wanted to share them. They made me think about my life and the choices I have made, both bad and good ones. I am going to list these choices but I will add my thoughts.
1) We're free to choose our character-the type of persons we become.
I think we are born with a personality type but I think we can shape our characters. Sometimes character can clash with our personality types but I also think, as does the author, that our character is really molded by our environment. We are molded by the people we hang out with, by the activities we participate in, and what we choose to put into our minds. If the people we hang out with aren't encouraging us to be a better person, or are people with bad character, what's the point in the friendship? If the activities we participate in or the things we fill our heads with bring us down, why bother? Trying to have a good character in this life is hard enough as it is, why surround ourselves with people, places, or things that bring us down?
We're free to choose our values We need to decide what is important to us and what our standards of excellence are and go for them. We can't let others dictate our values.
We're free to choose how to treat other people I don't think anything really needs to be added to that. I know that I could work on this, especially with people who have hurt me.
We're free to choose how to handle adversity Okay, so this is something I definitely need to work on. I was faced with a situation recently where someone who I thought I had helped and did the best I could for that person vehimantly put me and my efforts down. This person lied about me in front of others and just put me down. I thought I handled the situation well but looking back I really didn't. I let this person's words eat at me for a couple of weeks and made myself incredibly angry. I even thought of vindictive ways to let this person know that they were wrong. I didn't follow through with those plans but I should have just let it go. I don't handle adversity too well and I try to avoid it at all cost. I know it's something I need to learn how to deal with.
We're free to choose how much we'll learn Being open-minded about life is a way of learning. If we choose to be closed-minded we can miss opportunities to better our lives. I try and approach every situation with an open mind. It's difficult at times. I love to learn though and will try and take every opportunity to learn as much as I can.
We're free to choose what we'll accomplish in life We can sieze opportunities that are presented to us or turn our backs on them and lose out on a possible accomplishment. We can either be lazy about life or work hard and achieve great things. Being lazy of course is the easy way out but what do we have to show in the end? What we will be able to present to God about our life when we stand before him? I want to leave a legacy. I want to make my accomplishments better my life as well as other lives. I want to experience the life God has to offer. There are so many, many great opportunities out there for us but we have to get our backsides and reach for them, otherwise life and our accomplishments will just pass us by.
We're free to choose our belief system Isn't America awesome? We have the freedom to choose who and how we worship. Even though I feel like my belief, Christianity, is being attacked in this country, I know that I am still free to practice my beliefs with fear of death.
We're free to choose our own purpose What's your purpose in life? Do you long to please only yourself or to please others? Do you believe in a cause greater than yourself? I feel incredibly blessed to know what my purpose is in this life.
The first one I am reading is called, Life's Greatest Lessons. One particular section that hit me with great interest was about the choices me make in life. Everything we do is because of a choice that we have made. He made a list of the most important choices we get to make and I wanted to share them. They made me think about my life and the choices I have made, both bad and good ones. I am going to list these choices but I will add my thoughts.
1) We're free to choose our character-the type of persons we become.
I think we are born with a personality type but I think we can shape our characters. Sometimes character can clash with our personality types but I also think, as does the author, that our character is really molded by our environment. We are molded by the people we hang out with, by the activities we participate in, and what we choose to put into our minds. If the people we hang out with aren't encouraging us to be a better person, or are people with bad character, what's the point in the friendship? If the activities we participate in or the things we fill our heads with bring us down, why bother? Trying to have a good character in this life is hard enough as it is, why surround ourselves with people, places, or things that bring us down?
We're free to choose our values We need to decide what is important to us and what our standards of excellence are and go for them. We can't let others dictate our values.
We're free to choose how to treat other people I don't think anything really needs to be added to that. I know that I could work on this, especially with people who have hurt me.
We're free to choose how to handle adversity Okay, so this is something I definitely need to work on. I was faced with a situation recently where someone who I thought I had helped and did the best I could for that person vehimantly put me and my efforts down. This person lied about me in front of others and just put me down. I thought I handled the situation well but looking back I really didn't. I let this person's words eat at me for a couple of weeks and made myself incredibly angry. I even thought of vindictive ways to let this person know that they were wrong. I didn't follow through with those plans but I should have just let it go. I don't handle adversity too well and I try to avoid it at all cost. I know it's something I need to learn how to deal with.
We're free to choose how much we'll learn Being open-minded about life is a way of learning. If we choose to be closed-minded we can miss opportunities to better our lives. I try and approach every situation with an open mind. It's difficult at times. I love to learn though and will try and take every opportunity to learn as much as I can.
We're free to choose what we'll accomplish in life We can sieze opportunities that are presented to us or turn our backs on them and lose out on a possible accomplishment. We can either be lazy about life or work hard and achieve great things. Being lazy of course is the easy way out but what do we have to show in the end? What we will be able to present to God about our life when we stand before him? I want to leave a legacy. I want to make my accomplishments better my life as well as other lives. I want to experience the life God has to offer. There are so many, many great opportunities out there for us but we have to get our backsides and reach for them, otherwise life and our accomplishments will just pass us by.
We're free to choose our belief system Isn't America awesome? We have the freedom to choose who and how we worship. Even though I feel like my belief, Christianity, is being attacked in this country, I know that I am still free to practice my beliefs with fear of death.
We're free to choose our own purpose What's your purpose in life? Do you long to please only yourself or to please others? Do you believe in a cause greater than yourself? I feel incredibly blessed to know what my purpose is in this life.
posted by Wendy at 8:07 PM
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