Life eagerly responds to all of the choices we make in our lives. With each and every idea, belief, or desire that I choose, Life immediately jumps into a living and powerful conversation with me, and this communication is the creative process at play. It is a two-way communication: I feel love, I doubt, I fear, I believe, I expect, or I know and Life echos back. Its response can come as signs of encouragement, confirmation of decisions made, validation of beliefs held, be they empowering beliefs or not, doors cracking open or even slamming shut. Fortunately, we get to choose the tone of the conversation, for we are the beginning of all things new; we are the believers, the conceivers of ideas, the visionaries of new worlds; we are the choosers of all that we express, and from deep within the hidden realms of creation, Life will bring forth into Being all that we choose!

Making choices used to always be so hard for me. I was always afraid of making a wrong or unwise choice and as a result, I was never sure of which path to take in life. Often, I would choose which direction to take based on whether I was good at something, rather than if I had any real interest in it. My choices were either heavily influenced by the need to get ahead, or they were attempts at escaping a situation that I didn’t like. Needless to say, most of my choices were made from my own sense of lack and limitation. Eventually, resigning to the sense of limitation that I felt, I came to the point where I made no significant choices at all, although, I now see that to refrain form choosing was a rather significant choice in and of itself. During this time I went from a sense of aimless drifting to a state of outright stagnation where I was merely living out the choices I’d made long before.

I never really wanted to resign from consciously choosing good things for myself, but since I always looked for outer signs to guide me in my choices, I would get quite confused. When I would get an idea concerning what path to take in life, or regarding a project that might be worth taking up, I’d begin to move in its direction and subsequently receive all kinds of “signs” that seemingly showed me that I was on the right track. Whatever idea that I would even partially entertain attracted signs of support, and so, over and over again, I would believe that I’d found my true direction and conclude that I’d chosen correctly this time, until I, again, realized that I hadn’t. I repeatedly found myself involved in things that may have seemed like good ideas, but because I usually felt no real passion for them,  they weren’t good ideas for me.

There came a breakthrough in my life when I realized that by interpreting the signs in the way that I had been, I was abdicating my own responsibility to choose. However unintentional, I had been passing the buck, relinquishing my autonomy to an idea that something external to myself was going to guide my way, making clear what my choices should be. I grew to understand that my choices belong to me and me alone, and in its unbounded graciousness, Life supports and affirms all of my choices, be they concerning my direction in life, interests I want to take up, relationships I want to get involved with, or my choices in the quality of my thought and what I will believe and live by. I marvel at Life’s unwavering confidence in me, for the power of choice has been entrusted me; it is entrusted to us all and it is a power that we are meant to wield.

Life creates out of the choices that we make, but we alone are responsible for making them. Other than the judgement we heap upon ourselves or of that from which we get from others, there is no judgement as to whether a decision is a good one or a bad one; there is only support for the beliefs, ideas, visions, or dreams that you choose to express. You have complete freedom and autonomy in all that you choose.

If Life supports that which we choose, how can we make the most empowering choices for our lives and in our thoughts and beliefs? Here are two criteria I now use to make my choices:

1/ What qualities do I want to express?

What qualities do I most desire to express through my life and being at this time? Basically, this criterion is about who you want to be in this world, its about which qualities you most value and want to display and be identified with. My desire is to be a light of possibility, so that when others are around me they are able to sense the promise that is available to us all. Each day I try to remember to consciously choose that which I will serve, be it ideas of empowerment, expansion, or all possibility, or be it the spirit of love, creativity, joy, prosperity, or celebration. Of those which I choose, their expressions come alive for all to see.

2/ How do I feel?

Our feelings hold all the keys of knowledge concerning what would be optimal for us. Does an idea or belief inspire me beyond feelings of limitation? Which possibilities awaken my heart and enliven my soul? What paths fill me with anticipation, creativity, and joy? What do I love the most? Where do I feel most fully impassioned and alive? These questions always make clear the answers that I seek, and what to choose comes easily when I ask them. A lot of people believe that choosing based on a criterion of how one feels is a luxury, and one they can’t afford. Its unrealistic, they say. It is magical thinking to believe that just because you feel good about something, and so heed its call, that it will come to be. They pronounce that not everyone has the same set of choices, and that for some their only choices are between bad and worse. That’s what the many believe, but their belief is based in limitation and so that is what they see all around them. But, when you know your part in the play of creation and when you recognize the magic of this lovingly responsive world that you exist in, then you empower yourself to see the boundless set of possibilities spread out before you, and you are freed to choose from lIfe’s abundance all that feels the most natural and loving to you.

When you are guided by your most life-giving feelings and inspirations you can feel confident in all that you choose. This kind of decision-making has never failed me. The only times confusion has, again, set in is when I have tried to brush aside my feelings, either for the sake of making a choice that would please someone else, or because I have found myself enmeshed in a mindset of limitation. From either of these places, any attempts at figuring out what to do always amassed a big ball of confusion, with my original feelings being quickly over shadowed. When my feelings would battle it out with my sense of limitation or my desire for pleasing another, my feelings were rarely the victor. But, after a lifetime of not giving my feelings their due respect, for the truth and wisdom that they embody, coupled with the inevitably inadequate decision-making that resulted from denying them their place of honour and authority, I now choose to be true to my feelings. I follow what feels the absolute best to me in any given situation, and as I do, I continue to move closer to the paths, the ideas, the beliefs, and to all that inspires me the most.

No more aimless drifting or stagnation for me. This new criteria that I use for making my choices opens the doors to those things which I most desire. I even use this criteria for choosing my self-talk and my casual imaginings. In acquiring this discipline, I am finding my well of peace and I am manifesting more of what I want in my life. Being loyal to the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and the feelings that most vibrate with Life is becoming a habit for me. Joy is becoming the norm and when I’m in joy, faith manifests within me naturally, any sense of limitation fades, and the favour that Life bestows upon us all becomes apparent.

Making choices comes more easily to me now and I am in love with what I am choosing for myself. I urge you, too, to follow the call of what you love and no longer allow thoughts of limitation to pull you away from deciding upon those things which feel the best to you. Become an intentional participant in the creative process, set the tone of the conversation that you will have with Life and be confident in its ready response. Believe what the many dare not believe, for you are the beginning of all things new for you, you are the conceivers of possibility and the visionaries of new worlds! Choose, choose, and keep on choosing all that you will express and from the hidden realms of creation, Life will bring all of your choices into Being!

“I AM a mountain. You call, I echo”  – Rumi