Not My Own

It’s Your Choice

When my twin girls were little babies, I used to dangle their jammies over them as they lay down on the changing table before bed. One pink pair, one yellow pair, “which do you pick?” I would ask each of them. They didn’t really care, they just had fun batting at the jammies and grabbed which ever one they could. For some reason I felt guilty always putting one in pink and the other in yellow, as if yellow was second best! So if I didn’t have 2 pink pairs, I’d let them choose and then I didn’t feel badly!! (Silly I know, it’s one of the many dilemmas of having identical twins!)

I thought of this story today as I talked to a girlfriend about the many choices we have the power to make in our lifetime. I choose how to react to the rude checker at the market. Do I smile or throw it back at her? I choose how to respond to tragic news in my life. Do I turn to God for comfort and peace, or do I sew seeds of bitterness and hate? I choose how to respond to my children when they disobey. Do I discipline them in love, or unleash on them in anger?

It’s all up to me. I have the power to choose to love instead of hate. I have the power to smile at people instead of sneer. I have the power to be grateful for all that I’m blessed with instead of picking at the few things that I’m missing. I have the power to embrace trials and grow through them instead of burying my head and complaining for months.

It’s my choice.
I choose.
It’s your choice.
What do you choose?