Choose your life to get optimal results
Posted By Amanda Collins on January 16, 2010
I recently started reading “Get a life that doesn’t suck” by Michelle DeAngelis. I received this book free when Michelle spoke at a Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce event a little over a year ago. It’s been sitting on my shelf because, well, my life is pretty awesome, but I needed a book the other day and, with moving, everything was packed away – except this particular book.
Something you have to know about me first: I don’t like to read. I know you’re thinking that, as a writer, words would likely be my salvation and I would love to read. I think I got burned out on it, and it’s not like I can read while watching TV or working on the computer. So, these days, I really only read when I’m doing the cardio part of my workout. I’m at the gym six days a week, so I get in my (almost) daily reading, mostly of books that will help in my business, or non-fiction.
Pretty much from the minute I started reading GALTDS, I was captivated. Michelle reads the way most people talk, so you’re immediately in the conversation. I want to buy about 20 copies of the book and give them to people I know, might meet, or drop them off randomly. In my opinion, pretty much everyone needs this book – sucky life or no – because it’s a great reminder of how to be happy.
One of the first points she has about not having a sucky life is to really choose how you live and what you do. That got me thinking… How many people truly CHOOSE their lives? Most seem to be riding as passengers on the bus that someone else is driving, and they build resentment about where life has taken them.
So my question to you is: Are you choosing your life? Every day; this isn’t just about the big decisions. We can choose to work out, be on time, tell the truth, and be extraordinary. If you aren’t at the helm of your own life, who is? And why did you put that person in charge? How might your life change if you started to forge your own path and go forward?
Sure, choosing can be scary, there’s no doubt about that. I’ve had a rough few years where I felt completely out of control. My husband, the “love of my life,” chose to end our marriage. How did I choose that? However, I can choose how I respond to his choice. Now, granted, in the heat of the moment, it’s kind of hard to see clearly, but it’s worth it to step back and start determining how you can choose to move forward. You can choose your life and be empowered by those choices. Whether you’re a business owner, employee, or job seeker, you create your directions.
My suggestion to you, my friends and readers, is to just choose. For good or bad, at least you can be responsible – and that in itself is extremely freeing.