In times of uncertainty, it’s easy to get frazzled and depressed and just let life sort of take its course. There are a lot of things that are out of our control right now. But there are a lot of things that you can control, and you need to. The more you let things slip, the less in control you feel, and the more you’ll feel like a victim.
If you keep it together, and keep control of the things you can, you will come out a survivor. That sounds a lot better, doesn’t it?
In this puzzle of life, every piece affects the next. Even the smallest action, or inaction – will change how a part of your life turns out. Everything you do, or don’t do, either adds to your well-being – or takes away from it.
Eat poorly – you gain weight, have less energy, and are at risk for a multitude of illnesses. vs
Eat healthy and you’ll stay healthy, have more energy, and feel less depressed.
Think negative, you will always be depressed and worried. vs
Think positive and you will find solutions to problems faster and be motivated by hope.
Over-schedule and you will always be living in chaos and stress. Your life seems to control you. vs
Plan wisely and you will have control over your life.
Overspend on things you want and you will always be wanting. vs
Spend wisely and plan for purchases and you will have more than enough for the things you want.
And it’s not that you planned to make bad choices. Choices are made minute-by-minute. Imagine that you are in the fast food court at the mall. You ask yourself, do I want a cheeseburger? Chinese? Subway? Pizza?
Maybe what you should ask yourself is – Do I want to feel sluggish, bloated and tired, or do I want to have energy?
Or imagine that you come home from work late. You were good. You ate healthy. But now, you just don’t feel like doing the dishes. (Who ever really feels like doing the dishes?) So what happens when you get up the next morning? Now you don’t have time to do them. You pile your breakfast dishes on top and leave the mess – Only to come home to a mess that you HAVE to clean up before you can cook. Or will it be fast food again?
The rule that keeps me on track is to always have the kitchen and bath cleaned before I do to bed. This way, it only takes a few minutes, the morning runs smoother, and feels a lot better – and face it, that’s half of your housework right there! Just one of my secrets…
Say one evening you have a choice between reading a magazine, or watching TV. You choose the magazine. You get a great idea that helps your sales presentation the next day. You make the sale, get a big commission, and a bonus, and
a promotion.
All the time, the little choices we make shape our lives. We can be fit and healthy and full of energy, or overweight, tired and sick.
We can be organized and do things when they need to be done, or we can live in constant chaos and stress.
We can work to get ahead in life, or we can stagnant, only doing enough to get by, while the world passes us by.
It’s not that you have to make sweeping changes in your life, you just have to make smarter choices, one by one. Get in the habit of asking, how will this choice affect me? If you decide to go with the worse choice, be aware of that decision and commit to making up for it tomorrow. Don’t let a chain reaction of bad choices start.
If you choose pizza for dinner tonight, plan to eat more veggies tomorrow.
If you went to bed without doing the dishes today, make sure it’s all cleaned up before you go to bed tomorrow.
One bad choice in itself is not earth shattering. Heck, nobody can be perfect all the time. Just get in the habit of making better choices most of the time.
Carole
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