Choices

I got to thinking today about the word 'choice' and the different choices people make, or don't make, to get them where they are today.

There are things in your day to day that are clearly a choice like: white milk or chocolate milk? Chicken salad, or tuna fish? To take the stairs or the escalator?

There are also choices that we make that feel less distinct like: should I go to bed early or stay up late? These choices will directly affect your feeling, energy and productivity the next day. These choices are less vivid, but carry a great deal of significance in your day to day existence.

We then move into choices that don't feel like choices at all. Face it, when some dimwit cuts you off in traffic, it doesn't really feel like a 'choice' to flip them the bird and spew out a stream of obscenities at the top of your lungs while in the car, it just feels natural or the thing to do, right? Yes, how we feel and react are difficult choices to make, but choices nonetheless. Lots of times in pro sports, it is the people who are best at choosing the 'right way' to think are the ones who have repeated, consistent success. You can chose to be pissed about a result and dwell on it, or you can chose to accept it and move forward and spend your energy on making sure you correct it or it doesn't happen again.

Then there are what people view as choices, but aren't really choices at all. For example, I never chose play professional golf, it was just something that I was going to do. It was never a conscious thought, it was a childhood dream of mine to play on the LPGA tour and I took the necessary steps to get me to where I wanted to be. People don't choose where their passion lies, they just follow it and exercise it.

I hear lots of people talk about 'sacrifice' and 'giving things up' to follow their dreams. I never understood that kind of language. To me sacrifices are things that you give up that you don't want to give up. I never viewed anything that I did in my 10 years of playing professional golf as sacrifice. It was just what I wanted to do...I did whatever I needed to do to try to get to the next step. If that meant packing my car and heading out on the road for 6 months, that's what I did. If I had to sleep in my car, that is what I did. If I had to be away from all things familiar and hole up in a strangers house for a week, that is what I did. A true sacrifice would be to have done those those things without wanting to do them. There was never a choice involved, it was always just part of what I thought I had to do to get to where I wanted to be.

I am not sure, but I would think that there is probably a story in Greek Mythology about a character name Passionothos who always followed her heart because it was what made her feel fulfilled. It was never a choise that she made, it was just where she was directed by her internal makeup. At times Passionothos wasn't alway met with adventure that was pleasant, but she never had the option to bow out, it was never a choice, she felt passionate about what she was doing and moved forward. In the end, however, Passionothos always looked back on her life with a smile because without that passion that pushed aside any fears she may have had, she wouldn't be who she was today.