Better Choices

I've been thinking a lot lately about choices.

BIG CHOICES.

Little choices.

And all the choices in the middle somewhere.

We all make hundreds of decisions a day. Few are earthshaking, some are really important and others, may not be as important. Regardless, we are forced to make choices all the time.

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Last week was my ex-husbands birthday and knowing that Little Dude would be with his dad on that specific day, a choice presented itself.

I could either

A) not mention it to Little Dude and he could go on his weekend without a little birthday present, not knowing the difference.

OR

B) I could excite Little Dude about his dad's upcoming birthday and we could work on something to surprise him with.

Honestly, choice A) was tempting and I considered it for a minute.

And then I started to think about choices and how sometimes, even the hardest choices to follow through with are oft times the BEST ones to make- no matter how significant they are or not.

For instance:

Even if it may be beyond tempting to lash out on someones opinionated political post on Facebook, the better choice might be to refrain, bite your tongue and not let it ruin your day or worse, your relationships.

Even if someone hurts your feelings and the idea of spewing out every negative thought on your mind seems like a perfect solution, the better choice might be to keep yourself composed and walk away before you say something you regret.

Even if you are dying to send off a spiteful email to your ex-boyfriend, telling him all the reasons he is wrong, the better choice might be to ignore the drama and even though it hurts and you're hurt, don't give him any attention whatsoever.

Even if feeling a sense of revenge by not inviting the neighbor lady over for the block Christmas party, because she has been snooty and rude in the past, seems like it would be worth it, the better choice might be to swallow your pride, walk over to her house and extend her a personal invitation- making an effort to stop the silliness.

Even if there are a plethora of other things you could be doing on a Friday night than helping your 4 year old bake cookies for his dad's upcoming birthday, the better choice might be to set aside your personal feelings and do what is right for the sake of your child.

AND EVEN IF this person doesn't know that you with-held argumentative comments on Facebook, or doesn't know that you had a long list of confrontations to get out, or doesn't know that you have 10 really persuasive and cutting emails saved in your draft folder, or doesn't know that you really considered not inviting her to your party, or  doesn't know that you gave up some Friday night plans in order to make sprinkled whoopie cookies, MAKES NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL.

What matters is that YOU made the better of the two choices at hand.

Our decision making can make a difference in not only the lives of others, but in OUR lives, as well. Sometimes it can be quite the challenge to make the choices we know we probably should... but what I've noticed is that when I do follow through with the better choice, I feel so much better about ME.

Simple little thought.

P.S. the cookies were absolutely disgusting. I felt so terrible but, Little Dude loved them and that's all that mattered ;)

P.S.S. I'm sending out a million thoughts of gratitude to all of my friends today! Your thoughtful and kind and supportive words meant the world to me. What a fun, fun day yesterday was! Thank you, thank you. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life.