The Power of Choice

The Power of Choice

The most fundamental superpower we have is our power to choose. And for so many of us, it is our least developed superpower. We kind of bumble through our lives, mostly in habit and routine, barely aware that we have any choice at all. We do the same, we feel the same, we think the same, and call it security, even if it’s not very nice.

Choosing from awareness is a dynamic thing. It’s powerful, deeply transformative, and a serious act of personal power. Wow.

Why do I choose? What makes me decide? How am I powerful?

By practicing choosing in awareness, I am placing value on myself. For many of us, this is in itself a rather daring act. For many of us, the habit of discounting our worth to bargain basement value is old, deeply ingrained, and we think of it as Truth.

As we practice being aware, of our surroundings, of where our bodies are, of how we feel in our physical selves, in our emotional selves, of our thoughts, we start to claim our lives as something worth living.

This practice helps us notice when we are caught up in habits that hurt us. It isn’t unusual for us to have a nice life, a decent place to live, enough money to manage on, friends and family who love us, and for us to feel bad. I lived there for a long time. I was so sad. I was so stuck in paucity. I lived deep in the Lack Tree Forest, focused on what I didn’t have, and choosing unconsciously to stay there.         

It was an insidious habit that ate holes in my life. Awareness helped me notice that I was choosing to look at everything as a burden. My shoulders ached all the time.

Little by little, I began to choose to appreciate what I have. Little by little, I felt grateful for the help I receive, for my job, for my home, for my friends and family. As I practiced choosing gratitude, I started to move out from the Lack Tree Forest into abundance.

Why can I choose? How am I strong? What makes me competent?

Exercising choice, consciously, over and over every day, a thousand tiny choices, means that when I have big choices to make, the path to choosing is wide and clear. I have come to know my mind. I can choose to change my feelings, I can choose to change my thoughts, my attitudes, my environment, even my relationships.

Exercising choice over and over gives me a sense of control, of my personal power. When I let my life be run by my unconscious habits, I feel helpless, out of control, and often powerless. That feels awful.

When I choose gratitude, I relax. I recognize the fullness and abundance of my life. I can make changes from a place of power rather than a place of desperation. By choice, aware, thoughtful, mindful choice. This is power.

How have I changed from letting old thoughts run my life to practicing my superpower of choice?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2014 all rights reserved 08132014

In Me I Trust

In Me I Trust

I have mentioned our superpowers before. I like the concept. It goes like this.

We all have characteristics as part of our personalities. In and of themselves, they are neutral, that is, they are neither good or bad things, they just are.

Our experience of them changes depending on how well we utilize them as tools to support us.

Empathy is a good example. I’ve worked with a lot of people who are quite empathic, that is, they pick up on and feel what someone else, or a group is feeling. When they don’t know they are empathic, it can make them feel crazy. They start to feel angry when they were calm, they are suddenly anxious when nothing seems to have changed. Or really sad when they haven’t had a loss.

When they come to understand their gift, they can use it to help whoever is feeling those feelings, or to read a group. They can acknowledge that they are feeling something from someone else, identify it, let it go, and get back to their own feelings. Then they can choose to help the other person, clarify what is going in in their group, or if the circumstances are such that it might not be a good idea, they can move on. By taking responsibility for their power, they claim it and it becomes a superpower.

Why am I powerful? What makes me take responsibility for my gifts? How am I competent?

Creativity is another potential superpower. We may feel like our creativity is hit or miss, that sometimes we feel creative, and other times, we feel dry. When we own that we are creative, practice our creativity every day, it’s like grading a cow path into a road. It is easy to get there, easy to reach our creative source, and easy to draw from it whenever we wish. Creativity becomes a superpower.

How do I know I am creative? What makes me ingenious? Why am I capable?

Trust is a potential superpower many of us have some issues with. We may have a history of trusting untrustworthy people. We may have a history of assuming that things don’t go our way. We may feel unlucky, or doomed, or helpless.

Why would things go my way? How do I feel present and safe? Why can I trust?

My biggest challenge was learning to trust myself. I often trusted abusive people because I didn’t want to hurt their feelings. Seriously. As I learned to trust my instincts, my wisdom, my senses, I felt more in charge of my trust. I didn’t have to give it to anyone who asked for it any more than I had to give cash to anyone who asked. As I owned my feelings, I didn’t worry so much about hurting yours. I came to understand that I couldn’t make you feel hurt. You, just like I, have choices about how you want to feel.

As I have come to trust the Universe to bring me the opportunities I need to grow, my life has gotten way easier, way more fun. I no longer fear that a string of good things means that something bad is going to happen. I understand that the stuff that happens in my life is neutral until I judge it. I trust that I can cope well, that I have resources, that I can accept, and enjoy at least in some way, whatever comes to me.

How have I changed from doubting me to trusting myself and my circumstances?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2014 all rights reserved 07282014

How to Commit

How to Commit

I’ve talked about our superpowers before. Superpowers are what we get when we pay some attention, and do a little cultivation, with some basic life skills. For example, our creativity gets more accessible, more limber, when we use it every day. Likewise, our ability to make good decisions improves as we practice deciding. And our decision superpower goes hand in hand with developing our intuition, which is just learning to listen to our belly brains. There is a ton of information processed there, and fast, so practicing our skills in reading that information will serve us well.

Why can I choose, What makes me decide? Why can I trust my gut?

All our superpowers are awesome, and make our lives easier, including our superpower of commitment.

Oh, baby, that’s a big one. The most amazing things have happened as the result of making a commitment.

When we make a commitment from the heart, we are insisting that the universe align in our favor. The universe, our universe, likes to align in our favor. It likes to give us what we really want. It may take a while, it may happen in an instant, but for the most part, what we are really committed to, we will achieve.

Why do I commit? What makes me choose? Why do I own my commitments?

When I look at my life, I see my commitments. Am I committed to peace or chaos? Am I committed to celebration or condemnation? Am I committed to anger and fear or the flow of life? Am I committed to owning my power, or being a victim? I need to look at the direction I’m moving in, not the static situation. Am I committed to making things better? To making the best of my circumstances? To enjoying my life as it is?

How is the present moment perfect? What makes me enjoy the now? How do I commit?

Commitment makes things happen. It focuses our energy, and give purpose to our activity. Before we start to cultivate our commitment, we may find ourselves committed to the strangest things; how many waking hours can I spend in my soft addictions, like TV, video games, computer time, over-exercising, chatting, and whatever your favorites are.

When I am not accomplishing the stuff I think I want to do, I am committed elsewhere. My unconscious mind, that seething mass of secret, wacky material, will make my commitments for me if I don’t make them for myself. That’s how I end up eating a big bag of chips in a day, or having food corrupting in my fridge. This kind of commitment is not our superpower. I have to choose my commitments to make that happen/

What am I committed to? Why do I choose my commitments? What makes me decide?

I cannot commit without goals. A goal is a dream with a plan and a due date.

A trip, a degree, a book, a new look in my home, a new habit, a new friend, a deepened friendship, a savings account, a new hobby; there are a thousand thousand things we can choose to commit to.

How have I change from committing to things I don’t want to choosing my commitments?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2014 all rights reserved 05262014