Today comes with built in decisions, great and small. The clothes I
put on, the road I travel, the people whose lives I touch…in
fact, nearly everything in my day depends on how I choose. Today I
can choose to carry the blame myself, or to hold out a helping
hand…to shout out loud in anger, or to wait ten seconds…to
cloud someone’s mind with doubt, or to lift a heart with
encouragement. Today I can choose to count stars or to count mud
puddles. When I go to the store, I can choose to see how much there
is to buy instead of how much I have to pay. When I get stuck in
traffic, I can see, in every other car, a person just as important
as me. Today, because I live in a free land, there are a thousand
things I can choose: The neighborhood I live in, the friends I
laugh with, the work I do, the thoughts I think, the dreams I dare.
And what I will become, in spite of my fears and failures, in spite
of the talents I lack, in spite of all the privileges I never had,
depends on how I choose to challenge myself today. For I have
power, if I choose, to act instead of complaining…to speak out
instead of cherishing a hurt…to seek justice instead of getting
even…to love the world instead of waiting for the world to
embrace me first. What I choose today may well be the cause of my
tomorrow. Today…I shall live as I choose. Let me choose wisely
and well…