Recently I had to make a choice.  A choice to live or die.  I’m not talking about physically – but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  I had to choose whether to stay in the comfort of the familiar or go for the adventure of the unknown.  Some of you may already know where I’m headed, but for those of you who don’t, let me explain.  Life is all about change and choices.  The one constant in life is change and I’ve learned we must adapt to those changes or risk becoming complacent or giving up.  I’m referring to the giving up that lies in just existing and not fully living the best life you are capable of living.

Let’s face it.  Life is tough!  It’s hard for everyone regardless of race, class, background, etc.  Some of us have it harder than others, but all of us are fighting some type of battle.  Big or small.  Internal or external.  These battles cause the one thing we all have in common – pain.  There are those who carry a tragic pain of a huge life altering event.  But there’s also a pain associated with a series of smaller disappointments that pile up one on top of the other to weigh you down.  If you live long enough you will experience a combination or a variation of the two.  What do we do with that pain?  You can use it to paralyze you or mobilize you.  I’m choosing to let it mobilize me.

In my 30-something years on this planet I’ve learned that I must reinvent myself in order to survive.  And I realize that I will have to do this continuously over the course of my life.  I’m sure I’ve done it already several times subconsciously.  This time I’m making a deliberate conscious decision.  I choose to live.  To thrive.  To use my ordinary pain and allow it to carry me into unknown adventures.  This blog you’re reading is part of that adventure.  I choose to adapt to the changes that life brings.  I choose to get comfortable being uncomfortable.  I choose faith over fear.  I understand this is a decision that I will have to make daily.  Sometimes I won’t feel like choosing life.  When new pain or new disappointments present themselves, I will have to fight through it.  And fight, I will.

© Rhonda Simpson and The Way I See It, 2014 – 2015