The power of decision by Arnold Groenewald

Looking in the mirror this morning I saw that I’ve picked up some weight lately. It has been a few months since I was involved in any type of regular exercise, and I also did not even think about good eating habits off late. I know exactly what to eat and at what time, and usually I habitually exercise at least five times a week. I know exactly what to do, but my circumstances changed dramatically about two months ago and I just don’t have the time at the moment to think about these things. I KNOW what to do, but I chose to neglect it. I also know that if I keep on making the health choices that I am currently making I am going to arrive at a destination, five or ten years from now, as far as my health and fitness is concerned, where I do not want to be.

Life is about choices. Every day we make thousands of small choices. Every one of those choices influences your life. It plays a role in where you will be ten years from now. And there is no doubt, ten years from now you will most definitely have arrived somewhere, physically, financially, spiritually, professionally and in every other area of your life.

The question we all have to ask ourselves is: where? Where will you be ten years from now? Will you be at the destination you dreamed about your whole life? Will you at least be much closer to that destination? Or will you, in the next ten years, drift further away from what you believed to be your life purpose, your destiny?

The choices we make every day of our lives, consciously or subconsciously, will play a big role in that. Therefore I want to say a few things about choices.

1. Choices has a cumulative effect

Every choice we make has an effect on our lives, and their effect builds on past effects from other decisions made earlier in life. All together it accumulates and leads us toward our destiny. The choice, and the action taken because of that decision, is a cause set in motion. The longer you live, the more your life is shaped by your choices, because it is cumulative.

2. All our choices has an influence on our lives

Our whole life, the good and the bad, the problems and the joys in our lives, began mostly because of our own decisions. Steven Covey teaches the 90/10 principle. It states that only ten percent of everything that happens to us we have no control over. Everything else is the result of our response to the ten percent. We choose our response to everything that happens to us. Although many times we make the choices subconsciously, we still make them and it influences our lives in a negative or positive way.

3. We need to make the right choices every day

Because our decisions have such a big influence on our lives and destiny we must learn to make the right decisions. Before making a decision you must ask yourself whether the choice you are about to make will move you closer to your goals or away from your goals. If you don’t think about your decisions before making them chances are you will make the wrong decisions.

Every time you are tempted to give in to unhealthy or immoral or unwise behaviour you have to choose to either strengthen your position or weaken it. The right choice will usually be much harder to make than the wrong one.

4. Choose how to live your life.

If you don’t make conscious decisions about how you’re going to live your life, then you’ve already made a decision. You’re making a decision to give your life over to fate, to let your life be directed by the environment instead of shaping your own destiny. All humans have the ability to make choices; therefore we can, to a great extent, live the lives that we choose to live, because we are not animals who live only by instinct. We have the ability to choose. We all possess the power of decision, and therefore we can greatly influence our destiny. Our destiny is not determined by our conditions, but by our decisions. It’s in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.

5. Our choices can change our destiny

A Turkish proverb states: “Though you cannot go back and make a brand new start my friend, anyone can start from new and make a brand new end” We haven’t all started at the same place on the journey of life. Some started off with an advantage, and a great number of people started with a disadvantage as far as environment and opportunity and circumstances are concerned. That is not important. What is important is what we do from here on forward. Although our choices are cumulative, and although we are already on our way to a certain destination because of our choices, we can change our direction immediately and reroute ourselves to head in the right direction.

In ten years from now we will arrive somewhere in every area of our lives. The question is: where will you arrive? You can now take the time to design the life you were meant to live, and start making the right choices, or you can leave it up to chance. The choice is yours.