Choices/choosing

So, here’s some of what’s been going through my head the past day or two.

 

 

Choices:

 

We all make choices in our daily lives. We choose what to wear. We choose what to eat. We choose to go to work. We choose to come home to someone (or to no one as the case may be).

 

Yet so many of us feel like we have no choices. We can’t choose where we work. We can’t choose our friends. We can’t choose to not get fat. Or whatever, you know what I’m saying at this point.

 

I think that’s hogwash, to put it nicely.

 

We can choose those things. I choose to work for a small company rather than a large one that I could make more money at. I choose which people I talk to and which ones I don’t. I choose to work out hard 5 or 6 times a week to lose weight and feel better about myself.  I choose to put others before myself 9 times out of 10, even if it hurts me to do it. I choose to take time out of my day to talk with friends, even if I’m busy.

 

I choose these things because I believe them to be right. And everyone has that same choice every day, whether they believe that they do or not. You really don’t have to go to work today. There may be serious consequences if you don’t, but you still have the choice. You can choose not to work late today, or not to work through lunch today. Is the work going to go somewhere? Will it be there when you get back? Will someone else get a promotion if you don’t do it? Is your job more important that your relationship with your spouse? Or your friends?

 

I guess I have been contemplating the difference between myself and some of the people I know. I know so many people that have nothing else in their lives other than work. And I think that’s sad. They are so busy doing (???? Do any of them really know?????), that they have no time for friends, no time to discuss anything, no time for anything at all unless it’s talking about or bitching about work. Even when they leave work, that’s all they want to talk about. When they are at work, they feel like they are under a heavy work load, and little things slip away from them.

 

I left that all behind long ago. I can no longer be that slave, for that’s exactly what these people are. It’s very, very sad. I hate to leave some of these people behind, but the awakenings I’ve had in the past year no longer allow me to relate to these people.

 

Life is worth more than work. The people in my life are worth more than work. And I will never choose to let work come before those things. I am slowly gathering people around me that believe the same thing. Together, we will make a difference, and perhaps the rest of you will join us.