During a difficult time in my life, my aunt said to me, "Mary, life is all about choices."

Of course I think of this conversation often and try to understand what she meant.  I'm an over thinker by birth, but I realized in trying to overanalyze this statement, I really miss the point.  

Each day we make hundreds of choices, from the moment we wake up to the time we lie our head down at the end of the day.

Choice 1 for me is - coffee, then on to centering myself for my clients walking in to my studio for the day.  Clean the studio, light the candle and get the diffuser going with my thieves.  I love these small choices each day. They ground me and keep me happy and in a good place.

Yet, I know what my aunt was really speaking of when she told me this.  

Each choice we make, good or bad, has consequences for how our day sets up and what path we take in life.

The choice I made to go back to college after my brother died. Had I chose to stay home, I know I never would have met my husband Emo. The choice I made to have 3 beautiful children. The choice I made to work for my friend gave me so much confidence to reenter the work force after 12 years away.  The choice I made at the age of 40 to take a level 1 yoga class, then each choice I made to continue my movement education. I then said yes to choosing to teach pilates reformer.  Now, at the age of 57, having my own business, I'm so happy with saying yes. Making the choices I made that I knew were crazy and hard at the time (not you kids:0), but the gifts I received from these hard choices are so amazing. A reminder that they were not all good ones~but I learned something from each choice.

I really believe that making small choices each day helps us gain the confidence and opportunity to make larger life changing choices. Each new small and large choice allows us to receive new challenges, joys, and gifts.

We can look back at our days, months, and years and see how each small choice and each big choice has brought us to our current place in life.  

We are the driver of our choices, not others, but having family and friends helping guide us in our choices without judgment, to me is invaluable. 

Take a look at the choices you make everyday.  Are they healthy for you? Are you making choices for others & not allowing them to see the beauty in their choices? Are your choices helping you move forward? Are you putting others choices ahead of your own?

Enjoy your choice journey, being kind to yourself as it unfolds, it's fascinating, challenging and fantastic!