In the past week I’ve magically begun to enjoy everything that used to frustrate, disappoint or otherwise piss me off – such as re-washing the dishes after my housemates, being around the girl at work who triggers the bejesus out of me, and staring in the mirror at the extra ‘comfort’ around my tummy.
I’ve turned my frustration into peace ?
I’ve realised that, when we’re doing something we don’t enjoy, and telling ourselves “I have no choice” we’re only making it 10 times harder.
When we have no choice, we feel like we’re not in control, and the feeling of not being in control means we stay stuck, we stay grumpy and we don’t take responsibility for making things better.
The good news is… everything we do is a choice.
Everything we have done up to this point in our lives, all the experiences we have, all the situations we are living through, is all a result of our choices.
I chose the pleasure of sugar over the long term effects of weight gain.
I chose to accept a steady pay check instead of the freedom of working for myself
I chose the inconvenience of re-doing the dishes rather than the effort and social awkwardness of educating my housemates about kitchen etiquette.
Now, I know that nobody *really* knows why or how we’re here on this planet, but the school of thought that I’m currently subscribed to is that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, and therefore, we chose this life.
We chose these circumstances and the people who trigger us
We chose our quirky personality traits
We chose our parents
We chose this body
We sat up there in our classrooms, making our soul contracts, deciding what universal lessons we needed to learn and what challenges and opportunities we needed to experience here on earth.
The people who trigger you were probably sitting up there in classroom with you, saying “Oh you need to learn tolerance? I can be the annoying neighbour for you!”
When I find myself in a situation I don’t enjoy, it’s comforting to remind myself that I am NOT a victim of my circumstances. It’s not by chance that I’m in this place. I chose this. My choices up to this point (whether in this physical life or beyond) have led me to this experience.
Coming down from the spiritual realm and back to earth for a moment, we are still choosing every single thing we do, and to me, this is empowering.
Absolutely everything is a choice.
Now you might be saying, hang on a minute, I HAVE to go to work or I won’t get paid. I HAVE to clean the house because no one else will and it just won’t get done. I HAVE to feed my kids otherwise they’ll die of starvation (or get taken off me).
What you’re really saying is… I choose to do these things because I don’t want to experience the consequences.
You CHOOSE to go to work and clean your house and feed your kids because you want money to buys stuff, you prefer living in a tidy place, and you’d kinda like to keep your kids around.
I read about a psychology study conducted recently, where the participants completed a survey, and then received one of two paintings as a gift.
The paintings were of equal value and style. They were told that if they didn’t like their painting, they could exchange it for the other one in 6 weeks’ time. Half of the participants were randomly given either painting A or B, and the other half were allowed to choose which one they wanted.
In 6 weeks’ time when they were given the choice to exchange, 80% of the people who were given a random painting elected to swap it for the other, but 80% of the people who had made the original choice, preferred to KEEP their painting.
This shows that when we make choices, we are happier and more satisfied with the outcome, compared to when we feel like we are forced into it, even if the outcome is exactly the same.
Isn’t that the easiest life hack ever? Just remind yourself that you chose this, and you’ll feel happier about it.
When you realise that you are in control and that everything you do is a choice, two amazing things happen:
- You feel happier, more peaceful and more accepting.
- You are now empowered to CHANGE your choice, if you don’t like where it’s gotten you.
I’m pretty happy with my life choices, and when I come across something I can’t change, I just remind myself that I probably chose this up there in my soul contract, and I must be learning a valuable universal lesson from it!
Love,
Cat xx
PS. Thank you to everyone who replies to my blogs with their own experiences. I’d love to know this time… what choices have you made? Are you happy with them or are you going to change them? I love to hear your stories, keep ’em coming!
