I choose gentleness

Choices as Viewed by Max Lucado More Recent Articles Search Self Help Daily Choices as Viewed by Max Lucado I choose patience . . . I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage. I choose kindness . . . I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me. I choose goodness . . . I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness. I choose faithfulness . . . Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home. I choose gentleness . . . Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself. The above passage, one of the most beautiful and powerful passages ever written by a human hand, is from When God Whispers Your Name by one of the greatest authors of all time, Max Lucado. Mr. Lucado eloquently points out the importance of the choices we make. The choices we make… daily…. hourly… define who we become. In the end, they “identify” us to everyone around us. We make the choice, and then the choice makes us. No choice is so small that it shouldn’t warrant careful thought. Very careful thought. One of the reasons for this is that we are – and always have been – creatures of habit. In the morning, my husband or I, one, (depending on which climbed out of bed first and which one tried to steal 5 more minutes of shut eye) walk directly to the coffee pot and turn it on. As the beautiful sound of coffee being created and the intoxicating aroma of said production fills the kitchen, we walk to the windows and open the blinds – letting the sunshine in as we watch the birds at the bird feeders. All of this is done almost on automatic pilot – after all that’s what we run on P.C. (Pre Coffee). Our morning habits became so ROUTINE that they can almost carry themselves out without us. Truth be told, we probably just get in the way. Our morning habits aren’t unlike any other habits because that’s what habits do – they become ROUTINE. They become FIXED. They’re like permanent tattoos inked onto our lives. Now tell me they aren’t worth careful thought and consideration. If habits are going to become a permanent fixture in our life, shouldn’t we hold them accountable? Shouldn’t we demand that our habits be the type of habits that will make us better people. Smarter people. More successful people. More giving people. People funner to be around. People who make the world a better place…. I went to school with a girl once who was a very, very close friend. She had big beautiful dark eyes and hair so black it seemed to shine in the sun. She was ridiculously sweet and I loved her to pieces. We’d laugh for hours – then catch our breath and laugh some more. When we were 17, she started going out with a guy who was, as far as I was concerned, a pretty likable boy. He didn’t have much of a sense of humor (I’m not sure the kid ever laughed), but he was extremely friendly and he shared my all-encompassing love of animals – so he got a thumb’s up from me – just one thumb, though, because I consider laughter is the soundtrack I’ve chosen for my life. Away from my friend, he was very nice and friendly. Never funny. But friendly. Away from him, my friend was her sweet, laughing, adorable self. However, Good Time Charlie and Brown Eyes were miserable together. When the two of them were around one another, they bickered and argued constantly. When they were apart, they grumbled about the other one – all while wondering what they were up to (and who they were talking to, where they were, what they were doing…). They absolutely brought out the worst in one another. My friend who once could carry on a conversation about anything could now only converse about how miserable she was and how terrible he was. Personally, I didn’t think he had enough of a pulse to be terrible, but whatever. Bad choices do exactly the same thing to their orchestrator. The orchestrator has to (as my friend did FINALLY) realize that anything that keeps them from being as happy as they possibly can be isn’t worth their time. Bad choices lead to bad habits and this disastrous duo will be their undoing. Spend a little time thinking about your own choices. What habits are these choices creating and what impact are they having on your life? Your relationships? Your health? Your happiness? Your future? Your legacy? Go back to the top of this post and re-read Max Lucado’s beautiful words. How do your choices measure up? If they fall short, congratulations…. you’re human! However, you’re an intelligent human (after all, you’re on Self Help Daily – you’re top of the line) and you realize that it’s never too late to break a bad habit and it’s never too soon to pick up a good one. It’s always the right time to take a closer look at the choices you make. Get in touch with your choices and be mindful of future choices. They’re dictating your life – choose them wisely. Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/JoiTaniaSigers