Choose Wisely

One of my friends shared this quote today:

Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.

It's phenomenal and very, very true. Life throws us all kinds of ridiculous curve balls and sometimes we can't control it. Sometimes bad things just happen, no matter how vigilant we are. But there are times we can control it. Sometimes the choices we make produce negative consequences in our lives and wreak havoc on our families or our jobs or our self-esteem or the ones we love. Or all of the above.

Life is change. It happens. My dad has always told me, No matter how bad you think it is today, just wait til tomorrow. It may not be better, but it'll be different, that's for sure. Everything changes. What's important is how we react to change, even negative change. Even excruciatingly painful change.

Growth is optional.

There was a time in my life when there really wasn't an option I could see. The change was there. It was final. Over with. My time for having a say was over. The choices as I saw them were: grow or die. As in quite literally be dead, stop breathing, have your family and friends gather to mourn your loss, and be buried six feet underground. I didn't consciously choose to grow. But I did choose to not die. And it was a very highly contemplated decision, I assure you. And by making that choice to live, it opened the door for growth. Unimaginable growth, actually.

And I look at people all around me and I see the things they've been through. I see the very human struggles we are all faced with every day. And I see the choices people make. Some people grow. And some people blame and get bitter and shut down and build walls. Because growing is not easy. It's a painful process in itself sometimes. But it makes us better people. And just by being better, we make our lives and the lives of those around us infinitely more bearable and enjoyable.

Sometimes we don't have a choice or a voice in the change. But we always have a say what we choose to learn.

And whether or not we choose wisely-- to grow.