Life Choices.
Recently, I was in a taxi headed to La Guardia Airport. It was 4am and except for one car driving ahead of us, Second Avenue was almost bare. That is perhaps the only time of day when the streets of New York are not bustling with throngs of people and vehicles. The car ahead of my taxi was going slowly, perhaps because there was no need to rush; it was, after all, 4am. Suddenly my taxi driver started honking his horn at the slow moving car in an effort to get the driver to move to another lane. I wasn’t quite sure why, as there was more than enough room for everyone. So I asked him to stop honking and move to another lane. He reluctantly did so. I found it a bit strange that he didn’t do so of his own volition.
What I realized was that, in an Age when we have so many choices, we often choose stress. More often than not, on any given day, we choose to put ourselves in unnecessarily stressful situations by choosing to be angry and pissed off. And yes, these are all choices! It was 4am on Monday morning with hardly anyone on the street. Yet, this taxi driver CHOSE to try to intimidate a lone driver on an empty 3-lane roadway, when he could have easily moved to another lane. He could have avoided being mad at 4am, when his day was just getting started.
How often do you choose to be mad, angry, pissed off, or stressed? On any given day, how often do YOU choose to take the path that sets you up for a bad day or bad experience? How often do you allow a minor incident or inconvenience to ruin what was potentially a good day.
We have a Choice!
Many of us are so used to reacting negatively to relatively benign situations, that we may not even realize we have a choice in the matter. The reactions almost become a reflex. In this state of mind, we often fail to understand the implications of our actions – our choices.
Next time you feel anger, frustration or stress boiling to the surface in a situation that does not really warrant such a response, pause to take a deep breath and realize that your response is your choice – you have that power!
Choose to be Grateful. Choose to Make a Different Choice.
Make today different. Choose to make today a truly good day, one filled with gratitude and joy.
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