Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 331 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

You Always Have  Choice #1

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 331 of our trek. Yesterday we reflected back on life a bit and shared advice for a younger generation. Today and tomorrow we will travel on a trail that presents us with many choices as we consider the topic of why you always have a choice.

Thank you so much for coming along with me on our daily trek through life as we choose to grow in our wisdom, insight, and understanding. While some of our daily treks are a multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play, so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This past weekend was filled with activities both enjoyable and sad. On Saturday, I was able to get some work completed on the woodwork in the parlor as I am preparing it for polyurethane. The afternoon and evening we invested our time celebrating our oldest grandchild Paul’s eighth birthday party. It was a blessed time with two of our kids, their spouses, and five of our six grandchildren. On Sunday morning, we worshiped at church with Elizabeth, Nat, and their four children. In the afternoon, I was able to mow the entire lawn for the first time this season. In the evening, we attended the viewing of our Aunt Mary, who died this past Thursday.

It was good to see my cousin Rick and Uncle Bill. We are praying for their loss. My sister Rebecca and one of her sons Adam came up for the funeral, and it was nice to be able to invest Sunday evening visiting with them and my brother Jack and his wife Ann. Times of bereavement are usually times of reflection about the choices that we have made in life. On our hike today and tomorrow, let us reflect on the subject of choices as we consider the topic…

You Always Have a Choice #1

Have you ever looked at a difficult and unfavorable life situation and thought you are undergoing this because you “don’t have a choice”?

Have you ever said, “I have to do this,” or “I need to do that,” or “I have no other option,” or “I have no choice.” This can apply to anything in life, from your reactions to being in a predicament and solutions to small problems. The most common context I hear this phrase being used in is when people are doing work they dislike. As an example, they remain in the job because they need the stable income to support their expenditures and their family.

While you may think you have “no choice,” I think we would be wise to rethink this phrase when we are prone to use it. All of us always have choices, and we are making them every day, every minute, and every second.

1. You Always Have A Choice

I agree that you no longer have any choice or influence over what has already happened in the past. Those choices have already been made. However, you always have a choice in how you think, what you say, and what you do from this point forward. To use a gaming analogy, you can’t change the cards you are dealt with, but you can change how you play them. Some of the cards that we currently have in our hand may also be the results of how we played them in the past.

Let’s look at an example. Say, you are in an accounting job you dislike. You want to pursue your passion in starting your own business. However, you have financial needs and responsibilities to fulfill to your family,