The Impact of your Life Choices

Take a step back and look at your life from the point of view of your choices.  We all make choices, every single day, big and small.  But, there are life choices that impact our lives more than we realized at the time.  This blog is to inspire you to look at how those choices actually shaped your life as you know it.

Choices Guided by Intuition

Have you ever had that feeling where you just had to take a different route to the one you had planned?  And you ended up in a coffee shop where you met someone that turned out to be super important in that stage of your life.  Or, you left home 5min later than usual and then heard about a car crash on your route?

We make choices every day that are guided by our intuition.  The problem is, we don’t even realize when our intuition is protecting us, or guiding us in life.  If we think back on our lives we may be able to identify times like these, where we were being guided by our intuition.

Take the time to think about where you may have been guided by intuition.  Life choices that you made that were because of a ‘gut feeling’ or an inexplicable nudge.  Do you have life events that just seemed to happen by themselves?  Those times where it just seemed to fall into place?  This is your intuition guiding you, helping you to make the best choices for that time of your life.

Why is it important to reflect on choices made through intuition?  Because it helps to put things into perspective about the guidance that we receive throughout our lives.  It helps us to know we are not alone, that in actual fact we are supported on our journey.  I find that very comforting, don’t you?

Choices that Shaped our Lives

Then there are the big choices like moving to another city or country or having a baby.  We know these are big decisions, but we don’t know how big at the time of making them.  Take us, for example.  We moved with an 18mnth old and a 4yr old from South Africa, all the way across the globe, to a new life in New Zealand.

The move was the right choice, but what we didn’t know was the struggle of missing family.  What we didn’t know was that we wouldn’t see them nearly as much as we planned on seeing them.  Would we change it?  No, but if you granted me 1 wish right now I would wish for unlimited trips between the two countries for the rest of my life!

This life choice changed the course of our future.  It also brought up all kinds of emotions about the enormity of our choice.  The realization that there was ‘no going back’.  It forced us to face tough emotions and to learn a whole new way of keeping our relationships in tact across the ocean.  In the end, this choice made us so much stronger.  Have you made big choices that made you stronger?

Life Choices that Scared the Bleep out of Me

As scary life choices go, deciding to travel overseas on my own would definitely be up there.  For me, they would turn out to be self-defining life choices.  Travelling alone is a real ‘step up’ moment.  No more Mom and Dad to turn to, or friends to lean on.  This was my time to stand on my own two feet.

I’ve always believed that travel is a massive character builder.  It teaches you so much about the world and yourself.  If you want to read more about it, head over and check out my blog on travelling.  It is one of the best life choices I have ever made, and the benefits are too many to mention here!

The scariest life choices are often the best ones.  Why?  Personal growth can be found in the scary choices. Like putting this blog out there into the world.  That was a scary choice, but one that I now see had to be made for me to be fully me (more on that in the next point).  Think about the choices that scare you that could possibly set you free, you may be surprised what comes up for you.

Choices that Change Us

This one is all about this blog.  The decision to start this blog has changed, not me, but the person I was presenting to the world.  It has allowed me to return to my truth.  In its subtle way it has released me.  Although the journey is ongoing, there is no doubting the enormity of this decision on me and my life.

Making a decision to allow an important part of you to grow is just about as big as it gets.  These are the life choices that honour your place on this earth and who you are as a person.  Sadly, it is something way too many of us don’t do.  Showing your true, authentic self is not easy.  We fear judgement or even rejection.  But, here’s the thing.  Once you’ve set yourself free you just don’t care anymore because you realize it is more important to be true to yourself than anybody else.

Then there’s the ripple.  My kids are watching everything that I do!  They see the struggles but they also see the resilience, the honesty and the authenticity.  And that, for me, means the world.  It means that I am leading by example.  I am showing them that to fight for your truth is the most important thing you can do.

The Choices to Let Go Of

Then there are the choices that we take too seriously.  The ones that maybe weren’t the best but that we don’t need to spend our lives stewing over.  Like getting that tattoo on a whim or moving in with your boyfriend after 2wks.  While they might rock us, they don’t need to change us.

Some choices seem serious but aren’t actually life-altering.  They can be taken as lessons.  Take what you need from them and then let it go.  Don’t over analyze.  Sometimes it comes down to a season in our lives and that’s all there is to it.  So, if you made decisions when you were young that you wouldn’t have made now, that’s really down to a season in your life.  You aren’t the same person now!

Think back to decisions that you need to let go of.  Like investing in a business that didn’t work out or not applying for that dream job.  Remind yourself, there are always lessons!  Take the good from the experience and let go of the rest.

See Your Choices as a Challenge

Sometimes we make choices that challenge us.  This is part of the natural process of maturing and growing as a person.  We need to be faced with choices and challenges.  It is only through the process of making these choices and decisions that we can learn what works for us in life.  From studying to parenting, there is growth in all these experiences.

These life choices are part of the process of self discovery.  We learn what we like, what we care about, and what direction we want to go in.  See these challenging times as areas you can focus on to improve.  I know parenting is definitely a choice that has forced a lot of growth onto me!  And, although it is not easy, it is the most rewarding choice I have ever made.

Choose to be your own Hero

If there is one choice you should make today it is to be your own Hero.  What I mean when I say that is that you are the only one that is there with you from start to finish, through every experience you will ever have.  There will be supporters and there will be naysayers, but standing tall above them all needs to be your own self-belief.  You need to be your number one supporter.

We all need support and encouragement.  I will agree that we cannot ‘do it all alone’.  But, you must always be able to trust that you are there to back yourself.  When the days look bleak you have to provide yourself with everything that you need.  Some need tough love while others need a days rest.  Only you know yourself well enough to know which one it is, and to make sure you provide it.  So, make sure to be your own hero!

Final word

‘Choices are the hinges of destiny’ Edwin Markham

I thought this quote was a fitting conclusion to this blog.  I believe that our choices (and mindset) create our destiny.  There are always at least two choices, if not more, that we have to choose between.  How our lives turn out depends on the choices we make.  On which way the door swings.

More often that not these choices include stepping into or shying away from something we are scared of.  Good old fear.  I have come to realize that where there is fear (in any non-threatening situation) it is usually a good indication of an opportunity for growth.

So, look to see which way you want the door to swing.  Look for the fear blocking your path.  Put it all into perspective, and then make your decision.  And, remember, whatever you do, always choose you!

Much love,

Steph x

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