"It's Not Our Abilities That Show What We Truly Are. It's Our Choices."
I read this quote on the bottom of my friends email and I thought, that about sums it up. That is the 13 word motto of my life, only it usually takes me much longer to say it.
I have always taught my children that it is the choices that we make that show who we are and what will become of us.
It doesn't matter what you can do or what you think you can do, it only matters that you decide to take responsibility and make choices that lead you in the right direction.
Seven months ago, I had no clue how to shoot a gun, but I had made the choice to take responsibility for my life. I had made the choice that I was not going to be a helpless victim standing in a grocery store parking lot again.
My ability to shoot a gun can not tell you anything about me. It does not say that I am paranoid or that I love violance. It does not say that I have a caviler attitude about my life or that I am I irresponsible.
My ability to shoot is not all that impressive.
My ability to shoot a gun says nothing about my character.
It says nothing about who I am.
It says nothing about me at all.
My choice not to be a victim, says something about who I am.
My choice to wake up every day and face my fears and to not let them control me, that says something about who I am.
My choice to take responsibility for my life, not just in terms of learning how to use a gun for self defense, but also to be healthy and strong, that says something about who I am.
My choice to wake up everyday and be a better shooter than I was the day before, to be a better mother, a better friend, a better citizen, a better wife, a better person, says something about who I am.
My choice to wake up everyday and fight for what I believe in and to find positive ways to contribute to the world I live in, says somethng about who I am.
Exactly what all of those things say to you, is up to you to decide, but I know what it says to me...
The last seven months have literally been life changing for me and I like the choices that I am making. I like what they say about me and
who I am.
"We can't see past the choices we don't understand" the Oracle (from the Matrix).
ReplyDeleteSome people have questioned our (my husband and I) on our choices. They don't understand what our goal is. Some people have questioned my decision to carry a gun daily. They ask "are you that afraid" or "are you that paranoid"? The answer I think is yes AND no.
Yes I see the world around me and what it has become, I see that kids get snached from their front yards, schools and parking lots. Am I paranoid - no I am alert, I am suspicious of people; but we still go to the park, we still go out to eat we still do normal daily stuff. I just choose to be prepared. I choose to attempt to level the playing field a little. I choose to have a emergency bag in the car and at my home. I choose to find a way to get a garden to grow in our clay soil so we aren't so dependent on others.
These are my/our choices. If theses choices offend or put-off friends and family then so be it. We have to choose which path to follow based on our understanding of the situation. No one can make that choice for us.
Very well said!!!
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