People say you're the result of the choices you've made.
Today.
Yesterday.
Day after day.
And there's plenty of evidence for that.
Yes, even when you feel your decisions were forced against your will ...
you can trace them back to a set-up where you made a choice that seemed innocent enough ...
routine ...
even careless at the time, that ultimately put you in the place where you feel you "had no choice.
" I know ...
you may have to accept ideas like Karma to apply this concept to things like birth defects and ghastly situations a person was born into before he or she could exercise free will ...
or make anything resembling a conscious choice.
But if the mystics are right ...
and the decision to be born is one you make with Spirit and your Higher Self ...
then you are still where you are today because of your choices.
Whether you delight in ...
or regret ...
those decisions is another matter.
You make choices every day.
Hundreds, perhaps.
Some, as I said, are innocent enough.
They spin themselves out harmlessly, with no clear consequences.
Or do they? Often it's impossible to know.
Did your decision to touch the car's brake just a bit ahead of time give you the extra margin of time and safety to avoid an accident a mile further down the road because you weren't "in the wrong place at the wrong time" ...
which you would have been otherwise? Did your decision to let somebody into traffic ahead of you put him inside the convenience store ...
his destination ...
during the exact two minutes it was being robbed -- and he was shot for surprising the thief in his crime? Or maybe his sudden appearance threw the thief into such disarray he fled the store without shooting anyone.
Of course, there's no way to know.
Every day life's direction turns on choices like these.
You ...
the other guy ...
people you never meet and will never know ...
are impacted for better or worse by the choices of strangers -- made without a second thought.
Our choices are done by habit, by rote.
But what if, say, once a day we took a moment to turn an automatic choice into a conscious choice? It would take some time and thought, but it wouldn't ruin your whole schedule ...
or even be noticed by anyone who knows you.
What if you made a resolution ...
a pact with yourself ...
to do one kind, anonymous thing every day.
Doesn't have to be huge ...
or expensive ...
but it also can't be something you get applause and credit for.
Something like holding the door for a stranger.
(In these days of post-women's-lib ...
this doesn't happen to me anymore very often at all.
) Yes, sure, the stranger can smile and say "thanks" (or maybe not ...
I've had that happen, too.
) We won't really count that as "recognition and credit.
" But you can't make a big deal of holding the door ...
and if they don't acknowledge your courtesy ...
you don't get to feel snubbed.
What you do need to do is silently bless them ...
sincerely wish them well in you heart ...
and send them on their way.
Even if they don't give you a backward glance.
Accept as an act of faith that you've made a positive difference for them ...
somewhere ...
even subliminally ...
and let that be your reward.
Send an anonymous card of encouragement, support, or praise to someone whose character you admire ...
or whose life could use a little spark of sunshine.
Don't sign it.
Disguise your handwriting.
This needs to be anonymous ...
remember.
Add the silent blessing I mentioned ...
as part of the goodness you give.
Take the soft drink cup somebody left on the sidewalk, the railing, the bus stop bench ...
and throw it in the trash.
Bless both the person who could use a few more manners ...
and the person you've saved from having to do the job because you didn't.
(Consider that a two-fer.
An anonymous gift in two directions.
) Maybe it will be hard to find "something nice to do" a lot of days in a row.
Maybe it will be fun getting creative about this private little ritual of spreading pieces of help and happiness ...
like one of those nameless angels on earth we hear about now and again.
Most interesting of all will be to watch how you react and change through the conscious choices you make ...
and the events you set in motion ...
and what you think and feel about what you've done, because you will change.
These choices, too, will affect you.
And where will the ripples and repercussions of these choices go? What will these small random acts of kindness and your silent blessings do ...
sprinkled through life day after day? How will they touch the lives of people you may never know.
I wonder.
And I'm sure in time ...
so will you.
(c) 2007 by Enchanted Spirit, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Today.
Yesterday.
Day after day.
And there's plenty of evidence for that.
Yes, even when you feel your decisions were forced against your will ...
you can trace them back to a set-up where you made a choice that seemed innocent enough ...
routine ...
even careless at the time, that ultimately put you in the place where you feel you "had no choice.
" I know ...
you may have to accept ideas like Karma to apply this concept to things like birth defects and ghastly situations a person was born into before he or she could exercise free will ...
or make anything resembling a conscious choice.
But if the mystics are right ...
and the decision to be born is one you make with Spirit and your Higher Self ...
then you are still where you are today because of your choices.
Whether you delight in ...
or regret ...
those decisions is another matter.
You make choices every day.
Hundreds, perhaps.
Some, as I said, are innocent enough.
They spin themselves out harmlessly, with no clear consequences.
Or do they? Often it's impossible to know.
Did your decision to touch the car's brake just a bit ahead of time give you the extra margin of time and safety to avoid an accident a mile further down the road because you weren't "in the wrong place at the wrong time" ...
which you would have been otherwise? Did your decision to let somebody into traffic ahead of you put him inside the convenience store ...
his destination ...
during the exact two minutes it was being robbed -- and he was shot for surprising the thief in his crime? Or maybe his sudden appearance threw the thief into such disarray he fled the store without shooting anyone.
Of course, there's no way to know.
Every day life's direction turns on choices like these.
You ...
the other guy ...
people you never meet and will never know ...
are impacted for better or worse by the choices of strangers -- made without a second thought.
Our choices are done by habit, by rote.
But what if, say, once a day we took a moment to turn an automatic choice into a conscious choice? It would take some time and thought, but it wouldn't ruin your whole schedule ...
or even be noticed by anyone who knows you.
What if you made a resolution ...
a pact with yourself ...
to do one kind, anonymous thing every day.
Doesn't have to be huge ...
or expensive ...
but it also can't be something you get applause and credit for.
Something like holding the door for a stranger.
(In these days of post-women's-lib ...
this doesn't happen to me anymore very often at all.
) Yes, sure, the stranger can smile and say "thanks" (or maybe not ...
I've had that happen, too.
) We won't really count that as "recognition and credit.
" But you can't make a big deal of holding the door ...
and if they don't acknowledge your courtesy ...
you don't get to feel snubbed.
What you do need to do is silently bless them ...
sincerely wish them well in you heart ...
and send them on their way.
Even if they don't give you a backward glance.
Accept as an act of faith that you've made a positive difference for them ...
somewhere ...
even subliminally ...
and let that be your reward.
Send an anonymous card of encouragement, support, or praise to someone whose character you admire ...
or whose life could use a little spark of sunshine.
Don't sign it.
Disguise your handwriting.
This needs to be anonymous ...
remember.
Add the silent blessing I mentioned ...
as part of the goodness you give.
Take the soft drink cup somebody left on the sidewalk, the railing, the bus stop bench ...
and throw it in the trash.
Bless both the person who could use a few more manners ...
and the person you've saved from having to do the job because you didn't.
(Consider that a two-fer.
An anonymous gift in two directions.
) Maybe it will be hard to find "something nice to do" a lot of days in a row.
Maybe it will be fun getting creative about this private little ritual of spreading pieces of help and happiness ...
like one of those nameless angels on earth we hear about now and again.
Most interesting of all will be to watch how you react and change through the conscious choices you make ...
and the events you set in motion ...
and what you think and feel about what you've done, because you will change.
These choices, too, will affect you.
And where will the ripples and repercussions of these choices go? What will these small random acts of kindness and your silent blessings do ...
sprinkled through life day after day? How will they touch the lives of people you may never know.
I wonder.
And I'm sure in time ...
so will you.
(c) 2007 by Enchanted Spirit, Inc.
All rights reserved.