Choices.......

Everyday we are met with choices. Choices are not always easy, nor are they supposed to be. As children we start out having to choose the outfit we want to wear to school, and move on to having to choose our friends. From there we have to choose whether or not to cave into peer pressure and do what the rest of the crowd is doing or stand up for ourself and take a stand against what is wrong.

Some choose to go down the right path, while others willingly choose to go down the wrong path. Some don't know which path to choose, they are unsure of themselves, and can't decipher between what is right and what is wrong. Even some choose the wrong side deciding they will just deal with the consequences later.

As parents we are meant to help guide our children to make the right choices. We are to love and nurture them while allowing them to become independent and skillful in everyday decisions. This is not always easy.

I believe we can learn a lot about ourselves by the decisions we make. I always point out what is right or wrong with a decision my child has made. By pointing out the differences between a great decision and a wrong one we are giving the child the tools they need to decipher how to look at a situation, assess the situation, and choose the right path as they continue to grow in age and maturity. I try to never belittle my children's choices. Instead, I help them learn from their decisions.

As an adult, I continue at times to make bad choices. We are all human, no one is perfect and we all have flaws. A bad choice can only harm you if you don't learn from that decision you made. As an adult, I no longer make decisions knowing the consequences are going to come back and bite me in the bum, but I do not feel I assess situations with total clearity at times. I am learning, and growing, but I will never be perfect. I can only do my best, and if you do your best there should be no regrets.

The worst choices we seem to make come when we are under extreme stress from money and outside pressures. We have to learn to step back, take a deep breath, and look at the situation for what it is before we make a detrimental decision that will harm ourselves or others. I am thirty nine and I am still learning this!

I work with my children constantly about life lessons and how the choices they make can profoundly affect them and others. I want them to be able to make better choices than I have as an adult.

I can say this; all of my choices, as well as yours, are your own. Embrace them, if they were great ones, remember them if they were bad ones, and learn from them, and if you made a choice but could have made a better one, remember that the next time the dilemma comes up! Choices and decisions never go away, they just hopefully get easier as you learn and grow in this crazy world!