Everything- all things, all the things of a group or class.

I have found this one fact pervasive throughout my life, EVERYTHING we do matters when it comes to our happiness and enjoyment of life.

Every decision that you make every day of your life contributes to the essence of your existence.  Each choice you make to support someone or knock them down will be reflected in your own experience.  Through my young adulthood, I never realized this. I was too worried about my existence to put much concern into the lives of others. That was a mistake and one I don’t want you to make. It all starts with a constant awareness of the thoughts you are entertaining, the corresponding emotions they cause you to experience, the words you use, and the actions you take because of them.  Everything you think, feel, say, and do matters to your existence. So choose them wisely.

Choice consists of the mental process of judging the merits of multiple options and selecting one of them.

Your Choices Count All The Time

Every day, you are faced with a thousand choices, from what you eat to where you go or your thoughts about them.  One of the most important decisions is how you treat other people and how you treat yourself.  Many of these decisions happen with little thought at all,  but you should be aware that each choice you make defines the substance that is you.

Your energy is a compilation of these decisions, you can keep them to yourself and not tell anyone else about them, and they will still be a part of you as clearly as if you wore a scarlet letter on your forehead.  Due to this fact, it is significant that you understand there are no small choices; they are all big choices and will help determine what types of things you will attract to your life.

Decisions On the Job

When you go to work at whatever job you are performing,  you will always have choices, which will help determine how much you will enjoy that experience. And, more importantly, what kind of person you are going to be.

It doesn’t matter if you are digging ditches or splitting atoms. The choices you make will determine your success and value at that job and in life.   Everything all starts with your attitude.  Your attitude is the most significant decision you make about your work and, more importantly, your life.

If you continuously focus on how much you hate your job, it only stands to reason that you will struggle with it.  That is your choice. If you approach the crappiest job in the world like it is the sweetest thing you have ever done, then you are not accepting that job as your end-all.  You are displaying that you are a trustworthy person with unlimited potential. If you knew someone digging ditches for a living, and they approached it with responsibility and a positive attitude, wouldn’t any boss anywhere want that person around all the time?

Wouldn’t they actively look for places that would use that individual’s talent to the best of their ability?  The answer is, of course, they would. But more importantly, wouldn’t that person be looking for situations that would use their talents better and provide more satisfaction. Only you control your attitude at work or anywhere else — everything you do matters.

Choices about Your Friends

The people that you spend the most time with will have a significant influence on you. If you crave adventure, find adventurous friends. If you enjoy thought-provoking debate, seek out friends that enjoy that as well. Decide what you want to experience in life and spend time with people who have a similar disposition. Building a positive network of friends will increase your enjoyment of life. The friends who have the same values as me, like honesty, integrity, and doing what is right, even if it isn’t always easy, are valued and appreciated. They give you strength and make your life much more enjoyable.

Conversely, if you spend your time with negative people, gossip all the time, and are miserable about their lives and others, what do you think your outlook will be?   The transference from one person to another is a fact of life. The choices of association in this area significantly matter to your happiness.

Think about the people you know. Aren’t there some people who just put a smile on your face only by being around?  Unfortunately, some people make you depressed just by saying hello.  I know I have met plenty of both.  You need to choose to steer towards the positive people when you can and leave the negative folks to their misery.  You will make enjoy life a whole lot more.

Be The Toxic Avenger

If you have friends in your life who have a toxic effect on those around them, then you have two choices.  You can either totally avoid them and the poisonous foolishness that comes with them.  Or if that is not possible, the more fun method is to challenge them on every negative thought and action constantly. After a while, they will either change their perspective or start to avoid you.  Either way, you win a more positive life.

When they say something negative about someone, disagree and say something you know that is positive.  Most of these toxic people are not evil. They have just gotten into the bad habit of feeling that unless they make someone else feel bad, they can’t feel right.  By choosing to counteract them at every turn, you will either make them so mad they will leave on their own accord or, more often than not, they will fall in line and agree with you.  Be consistent with this, and you may turn a negative toxic person into a positive, happy person.  That decision will be a happy one for you.

How You Think About Yourself Counts

Often, it is confusing to people who focus and make positive decisions about how they think about others. They will be doing well, but they ignore how hard they are on themselves.  And the truth of the matter is that if you don’t love yourself and treat yourself like you deserve great things in your life, you can’t be too surprised when you don’t get them.

How you decide to view yourself is probably the most critical decision you can make in life.  If you look at yourself and point out the flaws, real or imagined, you are beating up your self-esteem for no reason.  How can you expect that great things will happen for you if you don’t even think you deserve them.

The great thing is that changing this pattern of thought is as simple as changing your mind.  Really?  Don’t believe me? Then do this.  Honestly, make a list of all the things you don’t like about yourself.  Hopefully, it won’t be too long, but I know some of us are hard on ourselves.  For every negative thing about yourself, rewrite the statement as a positive.

You can change the complete statement, or more likely, replace it with something you do like.  For example, an idea like, “my butt is too big” can be changed into “I have stunning eyes.”  or  “My butt looks great!”  In the end,(no pun intended), I don’t think it matters how you change the statement because as smart as we think we are, our brains can only remember one thing at a time. If you are considering the same positive thought repeatedly, then there is no room for the negative version.

You can choose to make it a negative thing or decide to make it a positive thing.  If you think positive thoughts about yourself and your abilities consistently, you will automatically permeate success, and others will be able to sense it.  All I can ask is that you try it.  Give yourself a break. You are a good person, and there are beautiful things about you that are so attractive.  Focus on them.  What you think about yourself is all that matters anyway.

Every decision you make, from the minute you wake up to the time you lay your head back down to go to sleep, will affect everything about you and your life.  Ask yourself when you are making a choice, “Does this choice honor me.” If you can honestly answer, “YES.” Then the decision will be simple, indeed.

I leave you with one thought, and it is the one I had initially — all you do matters in life. The choices you make are yours, and you are responsible for them.  Everything will come from your thoughts, feelings, words, and the actions that result from them.  If you don’t like the way the music sounds, change the arrangement.  Everything you do will allow this to happen.

In a minute, there is time for decisions and revisions, which a minute will reverse.  ~T.S. Eliot

Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions.  ~Author Unknown

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The inability to make a decision has often been passed off as patience.  ~Author Unknown

Everything is something you decide to do, and there is nothing you have to do.  ~Denis Waitley