Everyone has options. Everyone has choices. Not everyone always likes their choices or options, but they have them nonetheless in every situation whether they choose to see them or not.
From choosing your attitudes to your reactions and responses. From deciding to do nothing to taking some risk or action.
If I hear one time from some one “I am stuck. I don’t have any choices.”
Maybe the choices you do have will require courage, new learning, a willingness to try something new or the uncertainty of a new set of conditions or circumstances but please don’t say you don’t have any choices – we always have choices. Some may be less desirable, others may involve an ending or a new beginning but to say you don’t have choices is to be either naïve or totally closed minded.
The power of choice was given to each of us at birth, but most of us didn’t really start to exercise it until we could talk, walk, consider and think for ourselves.
What exactly is, the power of choice and how does it impact the quality of your life?
Choice as defined by Webster is: a decision to choose one thing, person, or course of action in preference to others. The power of choice is defined as: the chance or ability to choose between different things.
OK so now we have that out of the way how does this right, freedom, ability, skill, capacity or aptitude determine your life direction, outcomes and course?
The power of choice is not bestowed only on the rich, the young, working class people, married people, Americans or any other special group. Everyone has the power of choice, some people exercise it with intelligence, wisdom, experience and caution while others randomly approach their options with a carefree spirit without concern for future consequences or outcomes.
All choices and decisions have consequences. All actions have reactions. In physics and nature it’s called cause and effect. In all other life areas it is still called the same thing. If there is a drought, trees will die. If you don’t learn new skills and develop new attitudes you may be left behind in your career. If you don’t save or invest wisely you may end up broke. This list is far too long to give you more illustrations.
The simple truth is that life doesn’t pick on certain people and bestow certain benefits on others because of their heritage, gender, nationality or age. Life is truly a neutral concept. It’s what I like to cause the – Prize/Price relationship.
The Prize
The prize has no economic value, and once you win it, no one can take it from you. And you can’t buy it, you must earn it. The prize is worth whatever price you have to pay, but you must be willing to pay it. You can’t win the prize if you don’t pay the price. That’s just the way life is.
Many people feel or believe they are worthy of the prize, even though they have not yet paid the price. If this were the only requirement, it would be unnecessary to even have to pay a price. Everyone would win the prize just by showing up. Just being born would be enough to win the prize.
Unfortunately, if this were the case, the prize would have no value, and people would treat it with disrespect and scorn.
What gives the prize its value is not winning the prize itself or the value that other people put on the prize, but the price that each of us must pay to earn the right to win it and then enjoy it. I must admit that at times in my life, I thought I wanted the prize without paying the price. On one occasion, God chose to give me the prize without the payment of the price. In the end, I lost the prize. In fact, while I had it, it was filled with emptiness, envy, jealousy, sadness, and resentment.
The prize is not about race, gender, color, age, education, or cultural background. Everyone can win the prize.
So, our role is simple: Pay the price and if you win the prize, rejoice and be thankful; and if you don’t get the prize, rejoice and be thankful. Sound like a paradox? It is. God makes the rules. He determines the price and when you have earned the prize. What is the prize? It is spelled out clearly in the following pages.
The Price
Success, happiness, wealth, and peace all require that a price be paid to have and enjoy them. Some people pay the price willingly, while others pay it grudgingly, and most refuse to pay it at all. Some never know what the price is, because they fail to spend the time or invest the energy to discover it.
The price is not difficult, it is not life threatening, it doesn’t cost a dime, and it doesn’t take a lot of time. If this is true, why do so few people pay it? The price is called purpose, desire, and will. I can only tell you that when the price is paid, it always leads to the prize. The prize, however, might not always resemble the prize that we thought we should get or imagined, but—having paid the price–we always win a prize.
Paying this price is not a race. You can pay it as a teenager or on your deathbed or you can choose not to pay it at all. Winning the prize is not a competition between you and someone else, and you don’t get a bigger prize if you pay a bigger price. If you decide to pay the price sooner rather than later in life, you do, however, get to enjoy the fruits of the prize longer. Everyone who wins the prize has paid the price.
Now, it might appear to you that on some occasions someone has won the prize and didn’t pay the price. Do not be deceived. The prize is not always about power, fame, position, or wealth. Everyone can pay the price and, therefore, win the prize. The price someone must pay is not up to you or me. You might feel that someone else did not pay a big enough price for the prize. That is God’s call, so just relax and just pay the price with confidence, faith, and patience.
What is the price? It is responsibility, seeing no limitations, and taking positive, consistent, and focused action.
By: Tim Connor
