So, do it. Decide.
– Meredith Grey, Grey’s Anatomy
Is this the life you want to live?
Is this the person you want to love?
Is this the best you can be?
Can you be stronger? Kinder? More compassionate?
Decide.
Breathe in…
Breathe out…
…and decide.”
Happy New Year! I’ll return on 4 January 2021. I haven’t given myself a full week off from work in too long, and when you’re your own boss (from a business perspective), you have to decide when to take a break. It’s a choice. I was trying to think of times we have no choices when making decisions, but isn’t there always a choice? Otherwise we’re not really deciding on anything.
Most of the time we aren’t consciously making decisions because we’re doing what least upsets a flow, what maintains order, what feels most comfortable… Neither reward nor punishment… Just participating in life… actions leading to consequences (neither good nor bad)…
“Is this the life you want to live? Is this the person you want to love? Is this the best you can be?” Only you, in your heart, know the answers.
May YOU always find the courage and wisdom within you to follow YOUR heart…
…to commit to your dreams…
…to set plans for your goals…
…to know what defines YOUR success…
…to live YOUR authentic life (“To thine own self be true”)…
…to look forward to achieving your goals and receiving your desires…
…to feel unafraid of failure along the way…
…to see successes and failures both guide you on your path…
…to celebrate your own life everyday…
…to feel supported and loved by the people closest to you…
…to feel supported and loved by your own self…
May you feel grateful for all of it.
May you reflect on 2020 and find it revealed what matters most to you, and may you enter 2021 living your truth…
…and always choose love.
Luceat lux vestra.
The basic premise you posit starts with something similar the Nichiren Buddhist concept of Kito. Kito is an extreme interpretation of the principal concept of “causation”:
“Our present situation is thought to be determined by our speech and actions that we have performed in the past. Similarly, we can expect that our present speech and actions would affect our situation in the future. So, if one believes that his or her present situation is not good, one can expect that there must have been some decision or occurrence in the past that triggered a series of action upon action that begot the present situation in which one is placed.” [Nichiren Buddhist International Center]
There is also a strong sense of self criticism in this way of looking at “Kito” and rather than being self reflective, as you counsel, it’s more of an intellectually corporal self flagellant.
That’s an extreme reading that doesn’t allow for, well, blind luck. Still…it has merits.
Your reading allows more for self-determination and self-reflection, which is far more reasonable.
2020 didn’t reveal as much about me (to myself) as it revealed what matters most to others. I know me and often struggle with my “truth” co-existing with those I love and care about…but I’m human and that’s humanity’s eternal struggle (in my view). I can always find a place to smile and enjoy despite whatever is occurring, swirling and churning in my vicinity. Like an ukulele or an inside joke. 😉