We make decisions every day—from seemingly inconsequential choices, to larger ones that can affect the course of our lives. Part of the power of Mindfulness is that it allows us to make wiser choices—the ones that lead towards living a more healthy, meaningful and fulfilling life.
There is a famous parable about the power of choice. It goes like this:
An old Cherokee Indian chief is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a fight between two wolves. One is evil—he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.”
He continued, “The other is good—he is joy, peace, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and loving awareness. The same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person in the world.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
To which the old man simply replied, “The one you feed.”
The choices we make each day are powerful. They can nourish us or drain us. They can lead us into negativity, suffering and disillusionment or they can wake us up. They can move us one step closer to illness or one step closer to health. They can disconnect us from each other or cultivate more love, connection and peace.
Our daily choices are precious moments in time where we make a statement about who we choose to be. And they are a creative force—creating a future for ourselves, our communities and our world.
We often underestimate the power of our daily habits and decisions but they ultimately lead to developing our enduring traits, carving out our character and defining our quality of life.
Today and beyond you will make many small decisions—from what products to buy, to how you speak or eat, where you choose to hang out and how you use your time.
These choice points can be like mini-meditations of a sort. Times when you tune into your values, what really matters, makes you (and others) happy.
So here’s a simple invitation for this week. Bring more presence into the ‘choice points’ throughout your days. Bring your whole self to these moments and let your actions and words flow from that place of deeper awareness. Let those choices become like a form of art. Expressions of what is deepest and truest in you. Expressions of your wisdom, your love, your authenticity.
In this way you will infuse your days with awareness, feed the ‘good wolf’ and gradually craft your life into a masterpiece one choice at a time.
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