Do you feel like life is HARD sometimes?
Many of us think that life is pretty hard. There’s so much to do and so much that needs to get done.
But have you ever considered that maybe your life is tough because you’ve been choosing to make easy choices?
This concept was brought to my attention by Jerzey Gregorek, a Polish weight lifter and poet. He says that tough choices make for an easy life… or at least easier.
And when I thought about it, it made a lot of sense.
If you’re not happy at work, maybe you’ve been making the easy choice to stay in that job rather than making the tough choice to leave it, or even go back to school.
If your relationship is stressing you out, maybe you’ve been making the easy choice to ignore the problems, rather than making the tough choice to get help and try to resolve them.
And if your body is overweight and out of shape, maybe you’ve you been making the easy choices of convenience food and hours of sitting in front of the tv or internet, rather than the tough choices of fresh food and hours of working out.
But how can you tell a tough choice from an easy choice?
A tough choice is one that you know in your head is right, but your habitual stories and emotions are steering you in another direction, towards the comfort of ease and the status quo (easy choice).
Every single day you’re making choices, whether you realize it or not.
And most of these choices are probably pretty easy.
Some of your easy choices might be what to have for breakfast, what route to take to work, when to brush your teeth, and what tv show to watch.
However, if you’re trying to lose weight or get healthy, you’re likely faced with dozens of tough choices a day. But are you making those tough choices?
Take the choice of what to have for breakfast. An easy choice for you might be a muffin and a coffee at Tim’s on your way to work.
But a tough choice in this scenario might be to take the time to cut up some fruit, cook a couple of eggs, brew some green tea, and sit down to eat your breakfast at home, rather than in your car.
Or what about choosing to watch TV after supper? That’s a pretty easy choice… no struggle involved there.
But a tough choice here might be getting dressed in your workout gear and heading out the door for a walk, a run, or a workout at the gym.
Living a healthy and fulfilling life (or EASY life) is really just about making a series of TOUGH choices.
The great thing is that you have the opportunity to make these choices every day, and make your life easier in the long run.
But it’s important recognize tough choices as EMPOWERING OPPORTUNITIES rather than DEPRIVATION. You get to choose.
When you choose to look at tough choices as depriving yourself, then you’ll act like a toddler throwing a fit. You’ll say, “It’s not fair! Why does everyone else get to eat and do whatever they want and I have to eat this and do that?”
But when you see tough choices as empowering then you’ll say “I’m doing this and eating that because when I do I feel stronger, healthier, and more energetic, and I love those feelings.”
So, next time you catch yourself complaining that life is tough, think about the choices that you’re making. Then see if you can begin by making one tough choice today. It may just make your life easier.
On that note, I’ll be running in the cold today. It’s a tough choice and I feel pretty darn good about it!
Hope to see you out there!
Keep moving forward,
Debbie
P.S. SPRING CLASSES are starting as of next week! To find out more check out the link.