“Creating choices empowers me…giving choices empowers others” ~ Joe Contrera
A friend of mine once asked me a question when I was going through a pretty tough time in my life. They asked, “Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?”
Believe it or not, my initial response was, “I want to be right dammit and I want to win!”
Choices, Choices, Choices
Over the course of my life, I have bumped up against similar situations when I have the opportunity to decide how I am going to live my life.
Which always leads me to 3 truths about myself:
- I don’t always choose well.
- I always, always, always, have a choice as to how I am going to respond to the situation or event.
- When I create choices, I empower myself.
Below is a list of 10 questions you can ask yourself in any given situation to help you respond from a place of power instead of giving your power away to others or to the situation. Consider them 10 short cuts to empower yourself
10 Questions To Empower Yourself
- Do I want to be right or do I want to be happy?
- Do I want to be happy or do I need to mind my own business?
- Do I want to focus on what I need to do to make things right or tell someone else why they are wrong?
- Do I want to be empowered or do I want to give my power away (letting someone else’s actions or words determine how I think, feel, or act)?
- Do I want to waste my time being angry and resentful or do I need to forgive and move on? (being right in disguise)?
- Do I want to worry about the outcome or trust the process to unfold the way it is supposed to?
- Do I want to focus on the past/future or do I want and need to live in the now?
- Do I want to focus on the problem or focus on a solution?
- Do I want to create peace or do I want to create chaos?
- If this was my last day on earth would I spend my time and energy on this particular situation, problem, or challenge in this exact same way?
Getting Conscious…Making Choices
The list is by no means complete, so feel free to comment back with your own choices that have helped you makes good choices that empower you.
The whole idea is to be able to stop in the moment and make a conscious choice of how you want to live in that moment…
Which determines how you live each day….
Which determines how you live each week…
Which determines…
Well, you get the point.
