“What is freedom? Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for oneself the alternatives of choice. With out the possibility of choice a man is not a man but a member, and instrument, a thing.” (Archibald MacLeish, Pulitzer Prize winning American Poet)
I seem, at times, to get obsessed with the idea of choice or choosing. I currently own, often reference, and defer a lot to four books specifically about the idea of choice, “The Art of Choosing,” by Sheena Iyengar, “How We Decide,” by Jonah Lehrer, “The Happiness Advantage,” by Shawn Achor, and “The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less,” by Barry Schwartz.
The idea of choice is so immersed in our lifestyle and way of being, it is much like being a fish in water.
We get the opportunity every day to make small choices that, like the rudder of a ship, can lead to very significant and different destinations. I believe strongly in the power of choice. I believe in finding the best in others and in situations. I believe that choosing to be responsive rather than resistant is life-changing. Here are two short stories from my life about the power of choosing and the course that these choices set for my life.
Years ago, I joined AmeriCorps as a VISTA, and moved from Provo, UT to Boston, MA. As an AmeriCorps VISTA, I was asked to live below the poverty line and serve a business/non-profit in exchange for experience. IT WAS HARD! There were days when I literally didn’t have food to eat and couldn’t figure out how to pay rent. But every single day when I took the subway across the Charles River and stepped out into the Financial District in downtown Boston, I couldn’t believe I was actually living and working in Boston. Not one day went by that I didn’t feel lucky, even blessed. Every bus ride, every “T” ride, every lunchtime walk around Boston Common, every homeless person I chatted with on my way to the office was a reminder of the wicked awesome choice I had made to bust out to the East Coast. That one decision to join AmeriCorps continues to influence and bless both my personal and my professional life!
I graduated with my Masters in Social Work in 2010, in the heart of the recession. People were having a very difficult time finding jobs, and my field had been hit hard. After looking for a job as a therapist for a few months, I decided to stay in my field and return to working as a Direct Care/Line Staff for a residential treatment center (RTC). I was sad to no be using my MSW, but grateful to have a full-time job. After about a year of working at that RTC, I came across a contract summer job that sounded incredible. I made the decision to quit my full-time job with benefits for a part-time, contract summer job without benefits, and it has been one of the best decisions I have made in my life! That job was ANASAZI! Since that first summer job, I have worked my way into a full-time job, and I can’t imagine my life without ANASAZI in it!
How have your choices affected your life?
The choices we make and the way we choose to see other people or our situations both have the ability to transform not only our current circumstances, but our trajectory in life. I hope you get a chance today to think about some of the decisions you make on regular basis and the affect they have on your way of being. Maybe it’s time to make some new decisions, to see someone with new eyes, to make amends, to choose to see the good in things around us.
The more I learn about life, the more I realize it is all about the art of choosing.
“If others are responsible for my misery, I am stuck. If I am responsible, I am free. Relieve me of responsibility and you think you do me a favor. But your relief is condemnation. Without the power to choose misery, I lack the power to choose happiness. Only those who leave me without excuse are my friends. Only they speak the truth. Only they believe in me. Only they offer hope. The power to choose is within me. I choose every minute, every day. Do I choose responsiveness, or resistance? Choose resistance, and I am blind to the choice. Nevertheless I choose. Therein lies my hope.” (Excerpts from “The Choice,” by the Arbinger Institute p.48)