Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The choice is ours

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. Vincent Van Gogh
Four hundred years ago, Galileo was threatened with death if he did not recant his theory that the earth was not the centre of the universe. He didn't find the threat of death reason enough to let go of what he knew to be true. Forced to recant by a church that decreed his teachings heresy, he never let go of the truth and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. Confined to his home, he never gave up on exploring the universe beyond the four walls that contained him. In his commitment to discovering the truth about the universe, he became, "the father of modern day science".

During World War 2, thousands upon thousands of people in Europe knew that killing the Jews was wrong. The threat of death did not stop them from doing what was right in trying to save whomever they could from the death camps. In their acts of courage, people did not perish and the truth did not die. In their acts of courage, they became heroes.

Every day, individuals leave the shores of safety and set sail into unknown seas. They cause ripples in the waters, disturb the status quo, upset the apple carts of life and discover new horizons never before imagined -- simply because they had the courage to leave the shores of their comfort zones and journey into uncharted waters. They still feel fear. Anxiety. Concern. But they don't let their feelings stop them from doing the right thing. The brave thing. The only thing they can do to live the life of their dreams.

Every day we are faced with opportunities to step beyond our comfort zones and explore the land on the other side of our knowing. Every day we make decisions that determine whether or not we will do what we've always done and get what we've always got, or, do something different to create more of what we want in our lives.

The choice is always ours to make. The step always ours to take.

Will we choose in favour of change? Will we take a step in the right direction?

Or, will we choose to stick with the tried and fail safe, even if we're not achieving what we want? Will we step carefully in the steps we've taken before, hoping for a different outcome, even though those steps keep us away from living the life of our dreams?

The choice is always ours.

The question is: What will you choose to do today that is different than yesterday? How will you grow today beyond your wildest dreams? What small thing, or big thing, will you do to bring you closer to making your dreams come true?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

LG,

great piece . . I'm going to post it on 360boom . .

Mark

Louise Gallagher said...

Thanks Mark,

I appreciate you!

Louise