Choices

Concepts for Thriving
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Choices

Choices empower us by activating our body guidance and the breadth of our options, encouraging a deeper engagement with life’s possibilities. Acknowledging even our less appealing options reinforces our freedom to choose, inspiring us to make informed decisions with calm confidence. This practice taps into our wisdom, helping us navigate complexities and take inspired actions that craft our lifestyle.

  • Knowing there are choices opens up our curiosity and awareness — an empowered state of being for thriving even in difficult times.
  • The act of listing our choices (even the not-really-acceptable ones) reminds us that we’re free… even if not immune from the repercussions of what we choose.
  • The practice of exploring at least a handful of choices rather than sticking with yes/no, right/wrong, or good/bad options has a way of activating our deeper wisdom and helping us go confidently from yes to Yes to YES.

But I HAVE To!

Our primitive brain can lock onto one choice and insist that if we don’t pick that one then… we’ll suffer, we’ll hurt others irreparably, or we’ll die. Yes, the primitive brain is dramatic. It also cares about survival, not thriving.

For thriving… it’s useful to keep exploring until we are aware of at least 5 choices. Why? To come up with five or more choices means we’re open and curious enough to see possibilities where our primitive brain was feeling trapped in a “have-to” binary decision.

What If No One Else’s Judgment Mattered?

What choices open up if we let go of other people’s judgment? When we’re exploring choices, imagining that we are free of their judgment can open up vast possibilities.

Of course, people do judge. At times in our lives, we’re also honestly susceptible to punishment by a parent, boss, friend, or even a loved one who is super critical.

Exploring choices “as if” no one else’s judgment mattered doesn’t mean we’ll choose one of those wild and free options right now. It might not be physically or emotionally safe.

What it can do is clarify for you what really matters… and what you’re suppressing out of actual or perceived fear of emotional hardship.

Clarity about choices we’re passing by — and why — can activate us to take small steps that open up those possibilities in our future. Then our lifestyle design can include the freedom to make those kinds of choices.

Useful Questions

  • Do I believe I do not have any choice here (indicating I’m feeling trapped and reacting from my primitive brain)?
  • Do I think there is only one “right” choice?
  • What if there are multiple choices here that could support my thriving?
  • What choice do I wish I had, and what does that tell me about what’s important to me?
  • If I was more supported and resourced, I might choose to…?
  • If I was a bit more wild and free, what choices would I have then?

Resources

Related Concepts

Awareness, Adapting, Body Guidance, Clarity, Curiosity, Discernment, Heartistry, Inspired Action, Lifestyle Design, Primitive Brain, Sacred Decisions, Uncertainty, Wisdom

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