We all take chances every day; some people roll through red lights, rather than coming to a full stop before turning right and risk being slammed by a fully loaded dump truck. Some people cheat on their husbands or girlfriends and risk an untreated and highly spreadable STD. Some people don’t pay their quarterly income taxes and risk an audit. We all make choices every day; some people eat right and exercise and do the crossword puzzle every morning to keep their body and mind in good shape, some people chose to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day and drink Pepsi all day long. Some people chose to be mean to their mother, or daughter, or neglect their dog. WE ALL CAN CHANGE AT ANY TIME ANY DAY in literally the blink of an eye. WE are in charge of ourselves. The choices WE make MAKE OUR DAY, CHANGE OUR FUTURE, AND TEACH US VALUABLE LESSONS when we embrace changes and do things differently than we did before. Our past chances and choices that bring about changes are what make us US. If you want it, a change is gonna come…

EVERY PERSON you know has some bit of their history that they regret, for which they feel shame or embarrassment. EVERY PERSON you know has some regret from some event at some point in time. EVERY PERSON you know has some thought about some situation or conversation that they wish they had behaved differently than they did…AND IF ANYBODY SAYS “not me” well, they are full of it.

If I made lists on a two column legal pad of the things I have done that I am super glad about, and the things that I have done that made me sad or mad or full of, “I wish I hadn’t done that” it’s quite possible that the lists would be equal in length. By this I mean, that if we really dissect our lives and experiences, if we wanted to, we would see clearly that every single day there is probably an entry on both lists. No one does only right every day. No one does only wrong every day. We are human. We are flawed. I think if anybody claims they have no regrets, or claims that they always do the right thing, or say the right thing or choose the right thing, they are lying, or totally full of themselves in some grandiose way, because let’s face it, not one of us is perfect. Recognizing our weaknesses and failures makes us better humans, whether you believe me or not.

Many people are very private and nobody knows their business. I have always been an open book and probably share too much too often, but that is who I am…If people judge me, well that is their choice, it has nothing to do with me, what they think of me, or about me. Like in The Four Agreements; what people say or think of me has nothing to do with me and everything about them…I try to live that agreement fully. If every day I wish to be a better version of myself, than I was the day before, that is the only “judgment” that really matters to me. Can I do better today, can I be better today, can I make better choices today than I did yesterday??? That is all that really matters, in the big scheme of it all. Only I can judge myself and navigate the chances and choices that the universe presents to me and act accordingly. Many choices I make are based only on how it makes my soul feel…there are many things that I do that perhaps somebody else would not, but their choices don’t make it impossible for me to live with myself, or sleep at night, only my choices do that…

We all have to live with our thoughts, we all have that gut feeling, that inner voice, that vibration that something feels right to us, or feels wrong to us. There is nothing quite so personal as this. The chances you take today and the choices you make today might very well change the entire course of your life. The chances I take today and the choices I make today might very well change the entire course of my life. From this day forward, from this hour forward, it is only our choices that make our future and it is up to us to know what feels right or wrong, or good or bad, sensible or stupid. If I take a chance today that is different than the chance you might take, that is my burden to carry or my joy to celebrate, depending on how it turns out. If I make a choice today and it turns out to be a terrible one, then I have that lesson to learn…turning wounds into wisdom one day at a time. If I make a choice today that turns out to be exactly the best possible choice I could have made, then I have that joy to build from going forward. EVERY day something unexpected can or might happen to EVERY one of us. It’s a pretty big deal, when you think about it, that we control the direction our lives are going to take…EVERY day we choose to do better than the day before, a change is gonna come. EVERY day we recognize where we went so terribly wrong and we modify our choices, behavior, and thoughts…a change is gonna come. If you don’t like your life right now, guess what?? YOU can in one second, change it…it costs no money, and needs no help from anybody else…it is within you, everything you need to change is within you, your thoughts, your actions, you are the captain of your ship, your are the coach of your team, you color your world like the artist you are…you are the director of your movie and the author of your story…if that’s what you wish, a change is gonna come…