You Have a Choice

Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start. – Nido Quebin

I read this quote the other day and it caused me to stop and think. Coming off a wild 2020, it’s quite possible that for many, their current circumstances aren’t what they would like them to be. But the reality is, that regardless of what we wish things were like, they are what they are. And lamenting that fact is futile. Which leaves us all with a choice. How will we respond?

Where we find ourselves this morning doesn’t represent the finish line for tomorrow, but rather, the starting line for today. And we can start moving today in any direction we please. I don’t mean to minimize the presence of significant challenges. Those will always exist. But the truth is that we can choose how we respond.  Allow me to look at three responses with you this morning.

First, we can respond by staying stuck; this is akin to not deciding to go in any direction. The results of this choice are rarely, if ever good. I remember a professor in college teaching us that “The worst decision you can make is not to decide”. Staying stuck in lamenting mode will only leave you more stuck than the day before. It is one more day wasted in the mire of asking “Why”, instead of “What could be?

Second, we can go in reverse. Not only do you not go forward you go backwards. You try to undo what cannot be undone, you continually bring up what went wrong, how you got a raw deal, and how things were supposed to be. You begin to live with a sense of futility that the cards in life have been dealt unfairly to you. You quit trying new things, become jaded and want to bring others into your misery. Does that sound like someone you would like to hang out with?

Third, you can explore new trails forward. This is the spirit of discovery that puts wind in your sails. The anticipation of what might lie over the next hill captures you and the journey itself becomes a grand expedition. You will experience growth as a person, learn more about yourself, and quite possibly arrive at more of the places you had hoped. Focusing on what might lie ahead, instead of being mired in the mud of the moment, can change your perspective about wherever you are. This is a choice to thrive.

Realizing that your circumstances don’t have to control where you go, but simply where you start, leaves you with a navigational choice.  You can stay stuck, go backwards or venture courageously forward. Which direction will you head this morning?

There lies within us all the spirit to discover the trails that will lead us to the legacy we were born to leave. – Ron Klopfenstein

Live this week on purpose,
Ron Klopfenstein