See that title? Read it again.

That’s either encouraging or very scary.

I dunno, y’all. There have been so, so many times that I’ve taken the position of the proverbial deer in the headlights, paralyzed, not knowing what to do in some given situation or in dealing with that “one” person.

Which brings us to to a salient point: You always have the power to choose.

Breaking it down.

There’s no telling how many choices you made today. Chances are, you chose what clothes you put on. You chose what to eat. You will choose how to spend your free time this weekend. That’s the power to choose.

There are some choices you are forced to make, granted. You can’t choose to drive a car with no fuel. It won’t happen, because the car won’t run. You can’t choose your relatives (although you can choose how you relate to them.)

That’s not what I’m talking about. There will always be some choices that aren’t really choices at all because you’re coerced into making them. (April 15, I’m looking at you. I can choose to ignore it, but I know the outcome won’t be particularly good.)

What I want you to consider are those internal choices. Specifically – and I’ll pose this as a question – can you choose the condition of your own heart?

I think you can. And I think we should.

Millions of people fail to realize that you can choose hope. They allow circumstances, life episodes, and external factors to determine the state of their heart and mind.

Now, I’m not talking about clinical issues that prohibit us from functioning normally (and what is normal, anyway? Remember, normal is just a setting on your washing machine.) There are health and physical factors that can really screw up the best you. I know whereof I speak. There’s good medicine for those.

Nope, I’m talking about things like courage, strength of heart, of embracing hope in spite of what’s swirling around us or inside of us.

Shhhhh, kids. Move in close. I’m about to reveal one of the secrets of the ages to you (or maybe you’ve heard this elsewhere, in which case it isn’t much of a secret.) Ready? Here it is:

Change, and the world will change for you.

So what does that even mean? Here come the bullets, in no particular sensible order:

• Go through life expecting a daily battle and you’ll get just that. It’s sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you expect a bad day just like the one before, that’s what you’ll get. I bet you don’t want that.
• Want enemies? Anticipate having them and they’ll be waiting behind every tree waiting to ambush you.
• Want grief? Spend time thinking about how bad things are, and you can expect a barrage of more bad things.
• You can’t fight life. If you try it, you’ll fail, just like others have.
• You are not a bundle of preprogrammed responses. There may be some sort of reptilian brain stem buried in your physiology, but it doesn’t control you. You’re smarter than that. You can choose your response to what’s happening and what you’re feeling. There are certainly automatic responses in all of us, like those adrenaline rushes you get on a roller coaster, but even those can be reasoned with.
• There’s a phrase I’ve referred to before in my blog: I am responsible. There are some huge implications here, but your main takeaway is that you are responsible for the condition of your own heart. You can choose, and to say that you’re incapable of choosing a proper attitude reduces you to the level of an amoeba or lungfish or other primitive critter.
• What is now is not the now that will always be. You’ve heard that from me, too. I’d suggest that if you aren’t happy with your current now, understand you might not be able to change what’s happening “out there.” Again, you are responsible for changing yourself. You can do that. Others have. If they’ve been successful in change, you can be successful too.
• Start immediately identifying what needs to happen for you to change. And do that. Now. It’s not gonna fix itself.

Here’s my huge disclaimer: I am an utter novice at all this. I’m sharing what I know to be right, but some days there is a huge disconnect between what I know and how I’m acting.

Right now I’m looking out the window at storm clouds curdling and massing in dark majesty. Some days, that’s my inner state, and I just can’t will the darkness away. I totally get that.

But, if I didn’t have an ideal to strive for, all this would be pointless. There is always hope. Always, always, always.

I stole this from Andy Stanley, but he has a series of messages on “The Question.” The question is (and I’m probably not getting the quote exactly right, but it’s the way I’ve internalized it):

In light of my past experiences, current circumstances, and future hopes and dreams, what’s the wise thing for me to do?

When you ask that question and honestly engage with it, you can get clarity in surprising ways. There may be a subtle distinction in making a “wise” decision as opposed to a “right” decision, because what’s “right” might not have a basis in being right. It might just be simply expedient.

The bottom line is is that we have the power to choose, and we need to choose wisely.

Ancient script teaches this:

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.*

I know that I’m not all that smart, and some days wisdom is in scarce supply. It seems, though, that the solution to making choices that bring about the change we need is found in that ancient wisdom that God has seen fit to provide for us. I’m claiming that. I’m just weary of acting like the world and circumstances are beating me up. Nope. I think I’ll choose to be better than that.

*James 1:5