Tag Archives: choices

food for the soul.

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when you’ve recently climbed way back up onto the healthy wagon

 you have to choose between

the warm fudgy chocolate cake and creamy vanilla ice cream with a dark chocolate drizzle

or

the healthy fresh green juice

you make a deal with yourself

indulge in a bit of chocolate wonder right now

drink the magic green elixir

for your next meal

(which should offset all you’ve just eaten, call it even)

but somehow

the juice never makes it home

so the universe

has made the the decision for you.

 

“food for the body is not enough. there must be food for the soul.”

– dorothy day

hope is a decision.

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hope tree, karin zeller

 

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buddhist philosopher daisaku ikeda wrote this insightful look at the nature of happiness in his essay collection, “Hope Is a Decision.” ikeda spent 50 years writing the essays in the book. they all relate in some form to the nature of hope, and how we can take it upon ourselves to maintain it, even during tumultuous times. consider it a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you choose to be hopeful, you will be. just like if you choose to try and make others happy, it will increase your own happiness. and, as ikeda also notes in his essay, those choices will “illuminate our final years with dignity.”

confidence.

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 when you choose

to step out of your comfort zone

to dip your lucky charms into ranch dressing

and fully enjoy eating them that way

no matter how others react

that is confidence. 

“i have made the choices that work best for me. i know i cannot please everyone, and that’s fine.”

-marlee matlin

playing the odds, you win some……

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(supposed to be here)

back in the day

when i was a waitress

going to school

training to be in the travel industry

i was on call for my restaurant in michigan

but i also had to be at an airline travel class in dallas

my restaurant had very recently said

absolutely no more days off for anyone

too many people were calling in sick or with excuses

so

according to my optimistic rationalization style math and logic

knowing the staff

having no other plan

odds were 50/50 at best

 i said nothing to my restaurant

crossed my fingers

flew to dallas

made the fateful call-in from the lone star state

 amazingly

the staff had all shown up that day

for the win!

p.s. don’t try this if you are a doctor

(actually was here)

 

“never tell me the odds.”

-han solo

 

 

choices.

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“we are our choices.”

-jean-paul sartre

 

 

 

image credit: new yorker cartoons – roz chast

i know…

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setting up spotify

there were many choices

this one or that one?

more of this or less of this?

pass by or play?

i thought i had a cool, eclectic, quirky sense of taste in music

until it was spelled out for me with some such statement:

“it seems like you’ve selected almost all 70s and 80s music.

you’re obviously most drawn to the music of these decades.

we’ll be customizing your playlist to reflect your taste.

what? called out by spotify? did i know that?

did i know that, but was in denial?

did i think i was cooler than i really am?

was spotify judging me?

while i do like a huge range of music

(especially the irish bards and americana)

it’s clear where my musical heart lies.

my taste in music ranges from 

“here, listen to this”

to

” i know, please don’t judge me.”

(author unknown)

 

both.

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both thoughtful and wonderful gifts

both ways to mark my days

both things i like

whimsical animals

whimsical heroes

which to choose

easy decision

both. 

it’s always good to get a second opinion about what day it is. 

think victor hugo would be proud of my skills. 

“concision in style, precision in thought, decision in life.”     

-victor hugo

gate.

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a gate in the hedge

leads the way

in

or

out

to

what?

to 

where?

is it better

to go

 around

or

through

or

walk on by?

 

“the world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck.”

-ralph waldo emerson

not so random.

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what do a pair of winter boots, a dinosaur, a net, and a light

 have to do with each other?

at one point they were all important to someone

now it’s clear they’re not

 hoping they’ll be important

to someone else very soon. 

“random things are luxurious to people. it’s personal.”

-l’wren scott

amy’s choice.

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oh, amy what have you done?

after a bit of an unexplained absence

and when rejoining us outside at her picnic

amy tells us that she was busy inside

setting her mother up with her old iPad

and is already feeling a bit of remorse and worry

that this choice may have created

a life-long need for her tech support

and round-the-clock calls to her

yearning for immediate answers

to the endless questions as to the subtleties and mysteries

contained within the world of apple products.

her brother quickly makes it clear

that he is hands-off

and is not in any way involved in this endeavor.

she speaks openly of her fear

while the only other things we know

that she is afraid of are mascots

though this new level of fear

may have even topped that.

we all reassure her that she is a good daughter for having done this

while at the same time privately harboring

our own personal doubts

about the potential risk/reward factor involved in her choice.

about 3 minutes went by

and this is a picture of amy re-entering her house

after she has been called in

to where her mother sits with her new iPad

and her first ‘question/glitch.’

she looks frightened and unsure of what awaits her inside.

 

“choices are the hinges of destiny.”

-edwin markham