Deliberate Decisiveness
“Be Better Today Than You Were Yesterday. Be Better Tomorrow Than You Were Today”
Living in a first-world country full of instant gratification, it’s easy to make impulsive decisions that we don’t realize the effects of until that moment wears off. Today and this month of May 2023, I am encouraging you (and me) to live your lives more intentionally. Live your life in the present moment and continue to be conscious of the decisions that you make.
A large piece of my life during my formative years was that of me growing up as a military kid. My father has and still serves in the U.S Army for the past 26 years! A part of that experience growing up caused me to relocate five times growing up. Four of those times occurred before I was 12 years old. On one side of this experience, I appreciate the many great places and cities that I've been able to live in. On the other hand however, I had almost grown used to temporary environments and temporary relationships. I felt as if I was always the new kid and because of that, as a kid, I worked hard to try to fit in. For years I would do this and I slowly began to feel as if I was losing myself to the desires of other people rather than the desires of God and my own life. As I got older I began to recognize that about myself and in response I began to swing to the other end of that problem and become very independent and defensive. I grew weary of being told what I should do and of trying to meet the status quo. On the surface I appeared very nice until I felt as if you were trying to change me or dictate the actions that I should take. This caused me to struggle with decision-making, accepting advice and self-discipline because I was unwilling to truly listen and accept it. Choosing to be too open and choosing to be too closed truly robbed me of valuable life skills and lessons that I could’ve learned easily. Had I simply just decided to allow myself to value the process of learning and growth without rushing it, I wouldn't have had to learn those same lessons through painful experiences.
So why am I sharing this story? It’s because in life we are faced with so many choices and decisions that we have to make. Psychology Today estimates that we make about 35,000 choices a day. That’s a lot of possibly life-changing decisions made!! Whether we realize it or not, constantly making the same small decision creates a habit and habit done for a longtime creates a lifestyle. So it’s important that we are intentional about the decisions that we make. As you read this, try asking yourself, “how can I make better decisions” or “how can I live more intentionally?” I wish I could provide that answer for you but that is a conscious question worth asking yourself every day. In the words of the great Oprah Winfrey “Nothing happens until you decide. Make a decision and watch your life move forward.” Life is too short to live complacently, so today I encourage you to decide to live and not just simply exist.
God Bless You Family! Happy 1st of the Month!
**Congrats you’ve made it to the end of this month’s story. Here’s a personal think piece of mine..
Since the beginning of this year, I’ve challenged myself to spend more time alone and more time finding new hobbies and strengthening old ones. In doing this I’ve discovered a love for Boxing, E-sports, Traveling (locally and globally) and so much more! I’ve discovered so much about myself this year from the time that I’ve spent alone. And the biggest thing I’ve begun to value is the time that I allow myslef to just think…yes Think! I’ve realized that most people nowadays struggle the most with decison-making because they are not completely thinking things through or allowing themselves to finish their thought. It’s because we have so much information at our fingertips, we don’t necessarily need to think as much. I always told myself that I’m not creative and that it wasn’t my strength but in reality, we are all immensely creative in our own way, we just have to allow ourselves time to think freely and dream instead of trying to attach our sense of reality to those things! So on top of what I’ve shared before, I encourage yourself (and me) to do these things too! Think, Dream and Decide to Live.
