Choice...?

I have a choice...

Choice where I live is readily available in all shapes and sizes...

Internet providers, supermarket giants, cars to drive, work, study, hobbies, clothing, friends and so on.  We are raised in an affluent country, and even when choices may seem limited, that may only be because we have four or less choices, rather than say ten or a lack of money at the time. As a generalisation would you agree? Well, that's my perspective...

But when you broach the topic of choice in a wider sense of the word, you can come up against some tricky perspectives. 

 

What do I mean?

Well for example, I believe that I can choose to be joyful and grateful in all circumstances...hmmm...now this is a view that can be challenging for some people :)

Encouraging some people can be really difficult!  And I'm not saying that I try to push this choice onto people, sometimes people just need time when they're going through trying times...but, I still assert that even in the most difficult of situations, as adults, we have a choice as to how we will view things.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there aren't some things people go through, that aren't awful and wrong.  That's stupid. Of course there are terrible things that people have to endure, due to no fault of their own! But we do have a choice as to how we will view these things that happen, and whether or not we will allow healing from them.

"But you don't understand...my situation is different...people just don't care about me...I didn't choose this..." I think we can all relate to talk like this.  We all know people who say things like this, and if we're honest we know that we too, have said things like this ourselves (even if just non-verbally).

Sometimes I hear people complaining about God and blaming Him because of their plight.  Sometimes, people who usually don't acknowledge God can be heard saying..."Why did God let this happen?" or "Where was God when this happened?" Yet there are some who say, "I know God did not choose this for me", "That person made their own choice to hurt me." Or "In the midst of all this trouble, God was right there comforting those afflicted..." Such different perspectives...

Both perceptions are real responses to life events, but more importantly they both also are choices. The first is unhealthy and prohibits healing. The second however, is real and life changing.  Life changing because it's the first step towards healing and forgiveness; furthermore it impacts positively, both the individual and the people around them. 

A wonderful person once said to me that after an awful life event, someone told her that she had a choice to be a victim or a victor...hmmm, I know this is a challenging choice, but it really is a real, and available choice...

As a Christian, I go through my life with Christ as my friend...I am not wrapped in a bubble where nothing bad ever happens to me, or where I am not challenged!  In my life bad things do happen and I have a choice as to how I will react.  Is it easy? No. 

 

But it is a choice...

Melanie :)