Remember those “Choose your own adventure books?” – They were typically cheesy stories about journeying through some far away land. The stories were never particularly good, but the reason we loved them was because we got to “choose” our fate. We decided our path. The ending was completely up to us…
It still is.
More than anything, in life, regardless of your faith beliefs, we want and demand the ability to choose our direction. To write our own story. To set our own course. To have options.
As my good friend Ashley Ambirge so aptly put recently:
“…Options, on the other hand, does imply power. It does imply some degree of viability. Options imply freedom, yes, but on the same token, they also imply potential. Options imply a positive outcome. Options imply some sort of guarantee that no matter which one you choose, things will turn out okay…”
As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, it’s easy to fall into the trap that everything is predetermined. We forget that we do have a choice. Sometimes you’ll write the story yourself, and sometimes life will write it for you, but just like those “Choose your own adventure books” we know and love, you will always have the power to choose your next step.
Sometimes your choice will lead to frustration and heart-ache, they’ll be dragons to face along the way – but just as there is a risk in every choice we make, there is an even greater reward. There’s always a castle to conquer and a princess waiting in the ivory tower.
Of all the obstacles making you doubt your ability to choose, The loudest voice will be your own – telling you to wait, saying, “not yet”, and holding you back.
You can choose to turn to page 124 and listen. Let the doubt consume, control, and define you.
Or you can choose to turn to page 73 and ignore it. Use the doubt and fear as motivation. To kick even more ass. Slay even more dragons. Be that much better.
My friend Sarah Peck says the only thing worse than “deciding” is doing nothing…
So pick something. Turn the page. Get started. Choose your own adventure.