A Book Nerd's Inner Voices

Decide.

Every day, we have a choice. Who do we want to be today? What kind of life do we want to live? If we died tomorrow, what sort of legacy would we leave behind? Every single day, whether we know it or not, we make this choice.


And yet every single day, how many people actually decide to live in the moment? Truly? How many people think to themselves, "Yes, today, I am going to worry about the right here and right now. I may respect the past, I may understand my actions today have consequences on my future. But I am going to live for this moment, right here, right now." How many people actually say that?


Not many.


Too many times, we over-think, over-analyze, brace ourselves for what other people might think about what we do. We worry so much about a problem that we can actually think it into creation, therefore creating a problem where--once--one didn't exist.


So how do we get around that?


We decide.


Whether we know it or not, every single decision we make, from the minuscule choice of what we want for breakfast, to the impactful decisions about where to go to college, changes the course of our lives. Every one.


So then you start to ask yourself, "What if? What if the grass really is greener? What if their hedges were taller? What if she's prettier, he's buffer?" What if, what if, what if, what if?! But you know what? Screw "what if?" Those two little words should not be anywhere near your today.


The past is gone. Done. Over with. You may have gotten to where you are by climbing the stairs, but each stair you climbed to get to your current destination is now in your past. Thinking too much about it can drive you crazy. There's nothing you can do about it now. You did what you did, met who you met. The only reason it still matters at all is because it served to get you exactly where you are today. So own it. Be proud of who you've become, even if you're not thrilled with everything you had to do to get there. But don't be ashamed of it. And by God, don't let yourself be ruled by it.


Same goes with the future. It's coming whether we want it to or not. So why worry? Life changes every second, with every decision and we never quite know where our roads will take us. So what?! If we lived our lives mindful of the fact that our current choices will shape our future instead of trying to read smoky images in a crystal ball, we would all actually enjoy life.


Now, I'm not saying it's easy. Far from it. But living in the moment, appreciating what you have while you have it and giving the present your all, that is a choice. Who you are and how you live, how you treat people, is subject to change. But what you really have to ask yourself is what can you gain by choosing differently? And what do you stand to lose?


So decide. Who do you want to be? What life do you want to live? Got it? Now be that. Decide.