fundamental choice

from Robert Fritz's latest newsletter:

A real choice means we can do it (whatever the it is)
or not. If you must do it, you have no choice.
Some people use the word "choice," but they don't really
mean you can do it or not. Sometimes they think that a
choice is forced upon you, and if you don't do whatever
the it is, you will pay a price until you wise up,
and finally make "the right choice." The thought here is
"yes, you have a choice to get it wrong, pay the consequences,
and finally come to your senses and do the right thing." But
this is not in the spirit of a true choice. It is just a
life-manipulation which presumes there is a "right" path
and you must take it; this notion of choice is held
by those who have some dogmatic belief system that they feel
is the only truth. They think anyone with a different view
will eventually be forced to adopt their worldview.

But in life we do have many choices we can make. Some of
these choices can make all the difference. If you haven't
made the fundamental choice to be a non-smoker, any method
you choose will eventually fail. If you have made the
fundamental choice to be a non-smoker, just about any method
you choose will work, and you will be attracted to those
methods that work especially well for you.

Fundamental choices are about orientation, states of being,
the ground you stand on. There are four major fundamental
choices we recommend to people. They are:

The choice to be healthy
The choice to be free
The choice to be true to yourself
The choice to be the predominant creative force in your own life

.......

Like all fundamental choices,
once made, any processes
they choose can be made to
work, and they are
especially attracted to
those methods that work
particularly well for them.
Other may think of them
as committed, but they are
conscious that they are
organizing their lives around
their deepest values and
highest aspirations.

Once you make a fundamental choice, everything changes,
even if everything looks the same. You are on solid
ground and you no longer are subject to the changing
circumstances that life brings. Your creative process
is driven by the generative love of the outcomes you
desire to bring into the world, and the situations you
find yourself in are simply the raw material you begin with.

Robert Fritz 2006

***************

My apologies for the weird spacing that came up in the automated email that I copied this from.

Can I get an amen? This notion of fundamental choice that Fritz describes, I refer to in my personal cosmology as crossing the line in your head. You KNOW when it is no longer acceptable to continue with a particular experience or circumstance, and there is a palpable response in your body when your mind has made itself up to make a change, starting right now, and it's going to happen. Case closed.

What I love about what Fritz has to say is the part where "you will be attracted to those methods that work especially well for you." I believe that phenomenon exists, the methods that work especially well for me, and not necessarily for anyone else, because that fundamental choice has been made and it sends out waves of intent to the universe, and the magic starts happening - people, circumstances and events  begin stockpiling on the chessboard of life, and as long as I get vigilant about those joy-pullers washing my body-mind with the essence of what truly makes me happy, well, then there's no stopping them from manifesting.

I start looking for what cool way something is going to show up - what person is going to bring a fun and interesting twist to the mix, what incident or material thing that will so outshine what I could possibly conjure with my puny mortal mind/expectations.

These joy-pullers though - that seems to have my attention these days. Just a few years ago I didn't understood the purpose of feeling joy - only that it happened once in a great while, and it felt good and that I'd like for it to happen more often if possible, please. What is dawning on me now is that, to quote from PostSecret: "I'm starting to realize that we live in order to change someone else's life." When I'm clued in to who I really am and what makes my heart sing, I get to show up in other people's live and contribute to their joy-pullers. How cool is that?! Deciding to go for the joy helps keep things moving, expanding, getting better on the planet. The alternative - hanging out anywhere else on the emotional scale for any length of time, and observing the effects - well, it doesn't contribute squat to me, or anybody else. And it's boring. 

So, back to the joy-pullers. Anything qualifies that makes you feel energized, wanting to play, at peace with yourself, that plumbs your gut/inner guidance and comes up smilin'.  I've started collecting past joy-pullers - events that I remember experiencing with joy and that I can look upon as future inspiration when I'm not feeling so joyful these days. I'm writing them down on paint chip samples from the hardware store, mostly because color is a big joy-puller for me. 

It's amazing how the energy changes when you focus on one of these puppies. Remembering how you felt at the time, and appreciating that to the fullest extent of the law. A few weeks ago I was in heaven remembering a surprise party my fifth-grade class and I gave for our teacher, whom we loved to death. We tore up scads of pieces of construction paper for confetti, and recruited other teachers as partners in crime to get her out of the room so we could make our preparations. Then I was reminded of the rendezvous we all had at her apartment at the end of the year. I don't remember any of the details, just how cool it was that a teacher would invite the entire class to their apartment for a party, and how much fun that was.

That joy - right there - that's what I want. More than anything. As often as possible. And it's so within my power to choose.

Comments

[JennyRyan]

Thank you so much for this!