You may only have one choice in life at that particular time (one job you're committed to, one mate you're living with, one child in your life, one life to live), but in the meantime you are faced with millions of choices!
It is how you handle those choices that makes you who you are! I wish it were simple. But it's not. And you know what ... maybe we don't wish it were simple afterall. Maybe we like challenges.
I know I do!
We are a society that has developed into complex individuals and we are very excited about challenges. We have games that we compete in - football, hockey, soccer, baseball, olympic games that connect the globe. We love to challenge each other!
We are also very competitive in the business world. Companies come & go because somebody else had a better idea and moved faster and had the right connection at the right time.
We are even competitive as nations and have space races and industry races and races to find cures for diseases. We are competitive as a society!
So why on earth does it come as a big surprise that you are challenged to quit smoking? Why are you saying to yourself as you sit and wring your hanky wet from tears of frustration, "I'm not up to this!" You are up to this! You're put together to be a creature of challenge. You are embracing a personal record! You are the hitter who is walking up to the home plate with bases loaded. It's up to you. You can make or break the game right now! The best thing of all is this: It matters!
I love that! It matters what I do. I may not win some Pulitzer Prize that catches the eye of the world, but I have a world too and in my world, this matters! It is truly life & death in my world.
Another thing that it is, is meaningful. My God it's meaningful. I feel like I'm the one walking onto that ball diamond all alone with a bat in my hand. The lights are on, cause it's late and the game is almost over. The stands are packed with people because nobody wants to miss this one last play of the game. My children and my husband are sitting on the edges of their seats. Everybody's hushed as the ball comes my way. I am not going to sit down on the dirt and whine about how hard this moment is. I am going to hit that ball with all my might and send it into the outfield, maybe out of the ball park.
You have little moments in your life that are just as meaningful as that! Give it all you have and you'll never have anything to be ashamed of. And you'll always be glad you stood up to the challenge.
So, don't smoke, nomatter how hard it might be today. Just stand up to that moment and conquer it and seize it and own it. You can, cause you always have two choices.
