Thursday, January 27, 2011

Choices

I've had choices...Since the day I was born...There were voices...That told me right from wrong...If I had listened...No, I wouldn't be here today... Living and dying with the choices I've made...

I was tempted...by an early age I found... I liked drinkin'...Oh, and I never turned it down...There were loved-ones...But I turned them all away...Now I'm living and dying with the choices I've made...

I guess I'm payin'.... For the things that I have done...If I could go back..Oh, Lord knows I'd run...But I'm still losin'...This game of life I play... Living and dying with the choices I've made....


George Jones (from the song: "Choices")

Choices....

They built a new Dunkin' Donuts close to my work. I love Dunkin' Donuts!... They built it right across the parking lot from "24-Hour Fitness".... I call that,....irony. I usually stop at the big double D at least once a week and get my favorite,... the Toasted Coconut Cake Donut. And, every time, I look across the parking lot and see the Fitness place and feel this twinge (not a big twinge)... but a "twinge" of guilt. I could "choose" to be part of the 24-Hour Fitness brigade rather than the Dunkin' Brigade. The fact that the donut is less than a buck and the fitness club is $300 a MONTH might have something to do with my choosing to pursue the path of fattiness (not to mention pursuit of "donut happiness".... rather than being the ideal physical specimen. (Though I have seen some going out the door of 24-Hour who could use a good dose of donut here and there)....



Choices....

I read somewhere that life is just a series of choices. Hopefully, we make some good ones. A lot of the times we do not, we choose things that take us down the wrong path. Just like George Jones, sometimes we choose things that set-in to ruin our lives... drugs, alcohol, etc. ...

Nobody I know sets out to be an addict. I've never seen a little kid tell his parents, "When I grow up I want to be a stoned-out drug addict... or maybe a drunk.... and, by the way mom an dad,... can I borrow a few dollars to get started?"

Choices....



The hardest part about being a counselor is convincing someone that, as long as they're still breathing, they are able to make choices. The choice doesn't have to be "put the bottle down and walk away and never pick it up again." The choice is a lot simpler. Hard, but simpler. You have the choice to start making small decisions that will, eventually, lead to freedom.


Small choices: Admit powerlessness. Accept good counsel. Get into fellowship with fellow travelers (like A.A or N.A.).... Attend meetings. Begin to take small steps. Get a sponsor. Begin learning to "trust" someone. Be open. Be honest..... be "willing"....





Choices....





Even if we've made some very bad choices in life, there is a God of grace who is willing to meet us,...redeem us,... set us on a good path....

An old friend of mine made one bad choice which caused him to become a quadriplegic for life.


I dare say that most people would have let that bad choice become a black cloud of depression for life. But, ...this remarkable man went on to make some really good choices. He made some very good friends, .... he pursued art. He was a painter and he painstakingly created some beautiful watercolor paintings. He had art exhibits. He went back to school and got an art degree. Helped others to see beauty in art and nature. This was a man I seldom saw who didn't have a smile on his face or an encouraging word to say. He never lost his faith in the mercy and goodness of his God. An amazing man.

Choices....


"Living and dying by the choices me make".... small ones, ....big ones,... daily choices...


Sometimes it's just Donuts Vs. Carrots.....

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