We have so many choices in our day to day life - what to have for dinner? were to work? what car to drive? what to wear? what kind of soap we use. So many of our decisions are just habits. We take the same route to work every day and have the same breakfast each morning often without thinking about it.
Do you ever think about how you spend each moment? How do you choose to face the traffic every morning on your way to work? How do you show up when you are caught in a long line at the grocery store? How do you choose to be as you spend another hour in a meeting that doesn't seem to have a purpose?
When you think about it, most of our life is spent in these mundane places - in meetings, waiting for something, making dinner or just putting out the garbage.
After listening to a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace, I realized how I choose to show up in most of my life is a habit - one I had never consciously thought about. He made me realize that each moment is an opportunity to create more of what I want in my life. I can create more happiness, joy and compassion or more drudgery and boredom. I can assume the cashier who has already made 3 errors in my checkout is distracted and perhaps dealing with some big issue at home or I can assume she is incompetent. I know when consciously making these choices it is easy to choose what I want - of course I want more joy and compassion.
What about you? What are you choosing and how does it align with what you want to create more of in your life?