Empowered

There is a lot happening in my life right now. There is the uncertainty of the economy, which hasn’t directly impacted my family yet. There are the ever present money concerns – what’s in savings? What’s in the check book? Are we saving enough? Are we spending too much on a monthly basis? What are the priorities for which we need to be saving? There are also family dynamic concerns. Am I doing enough to empower my children so that when they are on their own, they know what is right and what is wrong? Tossed into all three of those – and rest assured, there are many other things going on in my world – is this new idea of choice. I have always and consistently believed that choice is the power God gave humans and no other living creature. It is that power of choice that is the *only* constant in life. The other things – economy, money, kids – are in a constant state of flux. Their priority in my life changes daily, sometimes hourly. But, what is not changing is my ability to choose how I react to each of them and the other challenges in my life. It is the power of choice that enables me to decide if I am going to lose weight, gain weight, or stay the same. That power is not to be dealt with lightly. It is a grave responsibility, the same kind Peter Parker aka Spider-Man, deals with. It is that tremendous. I have the power to choose how I react to my challenges. I can choose to fall into those same sad habits that led me to believe I need to change my life in the first place. I can choose to make new habits and to grow as a person, as a whole person. I can choose to walk the middle road, changing some things in my life and bemoaning the lack of power to change other things. And that is where I sit. I sit, often afraid that I have this power. I have wanted to lose weight and for the most part, I attempted to do so by little things. Less Pepsi, more water, walking, smaller portions at meals. These things have become important to me. I want to do these things. I’m consciously choosing this behavior. I was not doing that at the beginning of this year. I will continue to choose this behavior – that makes me happy – in the future for as long as I am able to breathe and take nourishment.