She woke gently and stretched lazily in the bed. She could feel the warmth of the sun outside her window and the day felt promising.

She knew that she had lots of important choices to make today; choices which could affect her life.

It was time to make her first choice. Should she or shouldn’t she?

She chose to get out of bed and start the day.

It doesn’t sound like an important choice, does it?

In fact, it doesn’t sound like a choice at all. But actually, getting out of bed is a choice for those of us with the ability to do so. Some days we make the choice without thinking too much about it, and on other days, when all you want to do is to stay in bed and avoid the world, the decision can be hard to make.

Every choice we have made so far in life has brought us to where we are now.

If you love your life, you have most likely made a series of right choices that led you there. If life is stressful or difficult, perhaps some of the choices which were in your control were not as wisely made as others. And that’s okay, since we always have the opportunity to learn from our decisions and start again.

She knew that she had to look in the mirror eventually. It was unavoidable. She’d been resisting the call for a long time now, because she knew what she’d see. She was carrying enough extra weight to make another small person.

She needed to lose weight, and she felt the amount was so big that it was daunting.

So she chose to do nothing. And nothing changed.

Rarely is it that one choice will make or break your future. In fact, it’s a series of choice that lead you to a destination. Picture a chessboard. You make a move which ripples out and causes the other player to make his own move. Then you are once again faced with a choice.

To which square should you move?

She looked at the food choices in front of her, tempted by the aromatic lure of hamburger with onions. Today, however, she chose a freshly made salad wrap and, as she tasted its deliciousness, she knew she would choose this for lunch again tomorrow. Within a few days she could feel her waistband becoming less tight, and that was exciting to her. She felt so pleased with herself that she decided to do something she never did; she went for a walk after work.

Big changes happen in response to a series of smaller changes. Isn’t that beautiful news? It means that you have the power to change things. The truth is that you have made the choices that have shaped your life so you can also make the choices that reshape it. You don’t have to be daunted by the idea of working towards a huge goal. Everything is manageable, once you take responsibility for the small choices you make along the way. We have more control than we sometimes give ourselves credit for.

When you recognize that you have the chance to make a choice, seize the opportunity. The secret lies in being aware that you are being asked for a decision. Today’s choice can be one step away from the future you want, or one step towards it.

She knew that her life wasn’t perfect yet, and she chose to love it anyway. And life was good to her.

Small choices every day add up to big results.

Author: Nancie Vito

Editor: Renée Picard

Photo: cosmo_71/Flickr