: Friday Five :: Week 14 :: Choices

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This week's questions are once again by the great Zoe : In Search Of Zoe. thank you!!
FRIDAY FIVE - CHOICES

1. Do you consciously choose to live your life in a particular way?

I choose to be a daily mediatator, a vegan avoiding onions and garlic. I chose Unity Church to be my sangha.

2. What life experiences have influenced how you chose to live your life?

Mediation keeps me and my life sane. When I stop for a while, the "bad" stuff comes creeping back in, the judgments, anxieties, depressions.

Ethically, morally, spiritually, and physically, being a vegan makes me feel much better. Meat drags me down. Allergies have helped fine tune what I eat.

3. Reflect on a specific good/positive choice that you made at a particular time in your life.
I gave up onions and garlic after a Dao 3 Day Seminar. I previously had not know the spiritual impact of these foods.
a. Was it like to make that choice?
I tried it a while to see if it made a difference. After a few weeks, I noticed that my negative reactions to events decreased. My level of peace increased. So I keep doing it.

b. What were the consequences of that choice?
That choic has made me at odds with most of the eaters in the world. There is almost no place I can go out to eat. Most prepared foods I avoid. I have to cook almost everything I eat.

4. Reflect on a specific bad/negative choice that you made at a particular time in your life.
We were on a hike with my children. My daughter threw a rock that hit me between the eyes. I over-reacted and grabbed her and lifted her over my head.

a. Was it like to make that choice?
I felt I needed to teach her not to do that. She could hurt someone seriously.

b. What were the consequences of that choice?
That was a difficult situation for her to handle. She felt for years I was going to throw her over the cliff.
Anger is never the way to communicate with others. They never get the message you are intending.

4. Are there any choices you have made that you would choose to do differently if you could?
I am learning to accept my life now as my creation. It is perfect as it is. I can recreate it as I want. I am gratefule for all of the choices that brought me to this understanding. I would not change any.

***BONUS ROUND***
Do you feel that you influence others and shape yourselves more with the “bigger” (new career) choices you make or the smaller (holding a door open for someone) choices that you make?
Both. The big choices change who you meet. The small choices do the shaping.