Your Power to Choose

“You are always at choice.”

This is a declaration we make regularly in workshops and presentations. It is also a statement many people initially disagree with. Most of their pushback begins with the same phrase: “But what about my bad back that stops me from working in the yard? What about the likelihood I will lose my job?” What about…….on and on.

These are fair questions. Sometimes life brings circumstances you would never choose. At times, your range of options can feel painfully narrow. Yet even in the most difficult moments, there remains one thing that cannot fully be taken away: your ability to choose how you relate to what is happening.

This is one of the foundational principles of TED* (*The Empowerment Dynamic)®. While you may not always control your circumstances, you can choose your response. And in that choice lies tremendous personal power.

During an online training program, one participant’s home was hit by a severe winter storm that wiped out her electricity and internet connection. She suddenly found herself unable to fully attend the virtual training.

It would have been completely understandable if she had withdrawn from the program. No one would have blamed her. As we explored her options together, she realized she still had choices available to her.

Her teammates stepped in creatively to support her. They adjusted schedules, shared notes, and found co-creative ways for her to stay connected despite the limitations. At the conclusion of the course, she shared that the experience became much more than simply completing the training. It became a lesson in choosing powerfully what she wanted, despite difficult circumstances.

The innate creative intelligence that supports your ability to choose is always operating within you. Yet throughout history, many systems of power have conditioned people to believe otherwise.

Some cultures, institutions, and leaders have reinforced the belief that power exists “out there” rather than within the individual. People are taught that safety, authority, wisdom, and direction belonged primarily to those higher up in the system. Over time, this may condition people to disconnect from their own capacity to think, discern, and choose for themselves. This is the history of disempowerment.

TED* offers a different perspective. It suggests that empowerment begins the moment you recognize your ability to choose your relationship to life. That recognition can transform the way you approach challenges, setbacks, and even everyday frustrations.

The power of choice can empower you in several important ways.

Creating Outcomes
As a Creator, you have the capacity to envision outcomes you want to create rather than becoming consumed by problems you want to escape. The participant in the winter storm could have focused exclusively on everything that was not working. Instead, she stayed connected to her desired outcome of completing the course and remained open to new ways forward.

Learning and Innovation
When life presents unwanted challenges, you can pause, reassess, expand your perspective and explore alternative approaches. Sometimes the original plan no longer works, and new possibilities emerge when you stay flexible and curious. Many creative breakthroughs are born during moments when circumstances force us to rethink our assumptions.

Finding Freedom
Dr. Edith Eger, Holocaust survivor wrote in her powerful book, The Choice, “The foundation of freedom is the power to choose.” As a prisoner in Auschwitz, her range of choices was unimaginably narrow. Yet she discovered that even there, no one could completely take away her inner capacity to choose her attitude and response. She later wrote, “It’s not what happens to us that matters most, it’s what we do with our experiences.”

Taking Responsibility
I have discovered an enormous amount of personal power when I say “I choose” each time I make a decision, both the very small and large decisions. “I choose this sandwich, I choose to mow the lawn, or I choose to be on this Zoom call now.” Feel the power of your words that “I choose” brings.

I am facing a big decision in my personal life. Recently I heard myself say, “When this happens, and that happens, then I will make my decision.” I suddenly realized that I was giving my power away to outside events and a time schedule I could not control. I changed my focus and language to, “I choose this.” With that declaration my energy completely changed. I am now solving problems and seeking information that confirms my choice.

The invitation is not to choose perfectly. The invitation is to choose consciously by accepting your personal responsibility. To pause long enough to remember that no matter what is happening around you, there remains a creative center within you capable of responding thoughtfully and intentionally.

There is unlimited personal power when you recognize you are always at choice.

Until next time, here’s to the Creator in you.

Donna

Shift from reactive patterns to more empowered thinking and action by taking our 3 Vital Questions eCourse. Click the image below to get started!