How we turn out in
life, is it because we are programmed as such or is it because we made certain
choices.
Fact is both
fate and choice play a role in how we turn out in life and however you look at
it you are right! There is a reason as to why our lives are the way they are
and why you are in the circumstance, position or place that you are in! It did
not just happen, something caused your circumstance. How you see and define it
will determine how happy, charmed and fulfilling your life will be or how
boring, mediocre and unfulfilled it will turn out! This then automatically
means that there is a choice to make for the kind of life that you want to
live! You cannot have a fate mentality, and live the life that you want!
When we were
young, our parents bought school uniforms for us and took us to school to
learn, get education and be successful in life. To many people, what happened
one fateful morning, ended up being a routine and a life to be lived, for the
next sixteen years of their lives! This has in turn shaped their lives, or
affected their lives forever. They did not have any say or control on whether
to go to school or not. It was not a choice for them but fate. Unfortunately
for many people even after getting all the education that they can they still
do not clinch the successful life that was promised when they started going to
school. They are in constant search f
or an elusive thing; success! Others went
through the same fateful experience and their lives are thriving, happy and successful!
For others, as fate would have it, did
not go to school. Circumstances did not allow them the privilege of education
yet today their lives are thriving and successful. This is just one scenario that I have
projected from life; but what makes the difference between these groups of
people?
It is a
small five-lettered word, but in it has power to transform, create and build a
life of success and fulfillment; choice!
Life, is a
choice! No matter how harsh, unbearable, and unpleasant it may seem! Situations
may occur in our lives that we have no control over, thus they tend to
suppress, limit and dictate our well-being! We call them fate! It is easy to succumb to the situation and
drown in self-pity and accept that this is how things must always be and that
the graph is drawn to attract sympathy. Whether
it is a loss of a loved one, loss of a job, being caught up in traffic. You
realize that a situation has been chosen for you and most of the times it is
usually a limiting situation but you have a choice over it whether to define
it, or let it define you! The issue is not the fateful, unpleasant situation,
the issue is how you respond to it! The reason why people complain and grumble
is because they are in a situation that has been enforced to them and they do
not have control over it, or so they think! This is what happens when a fateful
experience occurs to us, we can stay there and complain all day and night
trying to look for sympathy and help. Someone said that when you complain no
one listens but when you compliment, the world listens!
For the
world to listen to you, you must make a choice to defy fate or any limiting
factors. It is a choice you make to not let the situation control you and be
responsible for your own happiness. That is how you get control over it! There
is a difference between people and people, and the difference is choice! In
September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy made a speech that defined,
abbreviated and distinguished his Presidency among many US and world Presidents
before and after him to date! At that time, America had gone through two
economic recessions in less than a decade, suffered heavily after the Second
World War, and Russia had already landed a man on space therefore challenging
their status as the super power! He knew he had to give America a reason to
hope and be proud again of their sovereignty. Addressing a large congregation
in Rice Stadium in Houston, he said “We choose to go to the moon!” They had not
even created a lunar module to go and explore the moon but to cut the story
short in just seven years from the time he delivered his speech, America landed
a man on the moon and returned him safely on earth, advancing technology, and
space science to new levels that have not been beaten to date!
It is a choice
that he made to go to the moon amidst all the limiting factors that surrounded
America. Needless to say his choice has been celebrated world over and spoken
of with pride and used to inspire many who aspire to go to great heights and
achieve the impossible and become inspirations! This is the power of choice!
It is Wayne
Dyer who said that our lives are a sum total of the choices we have made! Today
you have a choice of being a prisoner of fate or being a master of your destiny
and be celebrated the world over, take your pick! That, right there is called
choice! Indeed, how you turn up in life is a choice!
Sarah Munyi
Life Coach,
Writer, Change Management Consultant
FB: Sarah
Munyi
