What Choices Will You Make Today?

  Today when you woke up you made a choice.  You  chose your attitude then you began to make a series of choices that guided your day. At this very moment, you made the choice to read my blog post.  I truly appreciate that. Today, I am going to share with you how I learned the real meaning of choice.

I hope that just one thing I share will add value to your life.  I truly understand the power of choice.  I’ve made some life altering ones  AND I’ve made some pretty stupid ones in my day.

I learned about choice at a very young age.  At only seventeen years old, I became very ill with a debilitating disease called ulcerative colitis.  Now let me tell you….Being a very active teenager did NOT mix well with that disease!!  I was a cheerleader, a model, and in every club imaginable.  Because of my illness I had to choose to give up cheerleading my Sr. year – tough choice.

I was really sick.  Do you know how tough it is for a pizza and soda addict to be told you can only eat mushy food and NO carbonated beverages?  You HAVE to…no, you GET to – because there really is no HAVE TO in life….you GET to learn about choice at that point!!  Do I eat this really yummy stuff and be doubled over in pain in the bathroom? ….and yes…..sometimes I made that stupid choice!!

Fast forward 2 years – I was in college, working for an ad agency and had just married my high school sweetheart…..we won’t discuss THAT choice!!  Six weeks after the wedding I was in the hospital having major surgery to remove my nearly ruptured colon.  For the next five months I fought for my life.  On the third major surgery,  my belly was packed with gauze and left open from stem to stern to heal from the inside out.  I had abscesses that poisoned my whole body, a deflated lung, blood clots, blockages and almost anything else you can imagine that could go wrong. I didn’t eat a solid bite of food for over four months and I had to learn to walk again due to muscle atrophy.  Two weeks after my six month wedding anniversary, I finally walked out of hospital….alive by choice.  At the young age of 19, I fully understood the meaning behind making positive daily choices.

A very wise chaplain visited me almost daily during that five months…Chaplain Bohannon…he’ll never know the difference he made in my life.  You see…. that one day I really thought I had no fight left in me…that day I thought I would choose to give up….he said TODAY you get to make a choice… you can choose to fight for your life and use the gifts and talents God has given you to add value to others….to make a difference in this world…..OR you can choose to give up….just die and take those gifts with you.  But IF you choose life…you’ll have to choose whether to wallow in self-pity for the changes in your body you will live with from now on… or you can choose to add value to others by sharing your faith, your courage and your positive attitude.

Fast forward almost 40 years….you know my choice on the live or die thing….I am here with you today…. and today, I am asking you to help make my choice to add value a reality.  CHOOSE to read my posts with an open mind and willingness to learn and grow.  Choose to post your comments and choose to share the blog posts www.followthiscoach.com with your friends and associates if you feel it will add value to them.

Has there been a time in your life or your business you made a difficult choice?

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