You would think with all that the world has to offer, choosing a wonder to share every week would be easy.

I mean, really, there is wonder around every bend, in every place, at every time to be discovered, explored and enjoyed.  And these wonders take on innumerable forms – man-made, natural, microscopic, ginormous, tangible, intangible and so on and so forth.

As such, today’s wonder of this wondrous world is choice.

We humans have the incredible opportunity to choose our lives.  We can make any choice about any option.  We can choose our job, our car, our home, our friends, our location…you name it.  Life is all about choice.

Choice can take on an unbelievable number of forms.  Choice can be tangible and intangible.  Choice can be big or small.  Choice is all about options, and what we care to do with them.

Unfortunately, many people do not believe they have much choice.  They live life as life lives them, unable or even unwilling to believe that they have the ability to make choices.  You and I can choose so very many things for our lives, on so many levels.  Yet somehow, many cannot see this incredible wonder for what it is.

I cannot deny that some choices are hard.  Some choices are not without consequence, good or bad.  And while some choices can be brilliant, insightful and incredible, other choices may be stupid, selfish, and incorrect.  Nonetheless, we have the option, and the choices are ours to be made.

We can choose what kind of a person we want to be.  Am I a generous, thoughtful, pleasant person or a stingy, thoughtless, mean person?  Do I choose to give or take?  Do I allow others to make me feel sad, or do I work to make myself and others feel happy?  So very many choices.

And choice is constant.  Every day I make choices, simple ones from when to get out of bed and what to have for lunch, versus more complex one, like whether to move to a foreign country or to choose a wholly new employment.  But there are always choices to be had, and there are always multiple options from which to pick.

Some people prefer to not make choices for themselves.  They far prefer to let others make choices for them.  And while small children are in many respects better off for the choices a parent makes for them, as adults we need to learn to be accountable, and to choose for ourselves.

Choice should not be something to be feared – it should be celebrated.  Everyone wants different things, everyone has different motivations for their lives, and choice is a part of that.  What I choose in a given situation may be vastly different from what you might.  And this is not something bad or out of control as some might see it, but something amazing and fantastic about the human condition.

We are a unique animal in this world, capable of choice beyond the basics of food, shelter, selecting a mate and survival.  We can have, be, and do whatever we want to choose, if we are willing to make choices to bring us to where we desire to go.  Choice is not a bad thing at all, but a wonder to be embraced and exercised with zeal and enthusiasm.

Choice is one of the most amazing wonders of our wondrous world.  What choices, big and small, will you be making today?

 

I am MJ Blehart, author of “Wednesday’s Wondrous World”.  Every week I share a wonder of this amazing world, and I hope you will enjoy the journey with me!

Check out my blog, The Ramblings of a Titanium Don, for more of my work.  Every week I post on Wednesdays about Pathwalking, which is choosing how to live life, rather than let life live you.

Also now available, Pathwalking: A 21st Century Philosophy in Book and Kindle form!