My rules

For my birthday, my co-workers got me one of the most thoughtful gifts that I have ever received.  They got me a cute display box full of cards with over 200 different sayings on them.  A literal box of positive inspiration.

It sits right on the base of my computer monitor, wowing me with wisdom for 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week.

And because I'm "that girl", I constantly find myself taking pictures of different quotes, and sending them to people, or wanting to put them on Instagram, because I feel like it is something that the people around me would also benefit from remembering every now and then.  Yesterday, I walked into work, and decided I was ready for a new quote.  Sometimes they last a day, sometimes a week, but I always seek to keep it relevant to where I am at in my life.  And really, the quote I pulled yesterday... it is all about being who you want to be, and that is awesome.  Do you want to know what it was?

Your Life.

Your Rules.

That's it.  I forget that a lot.  That in my life, I get to set the rules, and determine who is granted what power over me.  Even at work, I choose to work in an environment where I have a certain boss, or certain co-workers.  I choose to live in a Country with certain leaders, and a given set of moral standards.  These are my CHOICES.  They weren't things that "happened" to me, they were things that I decided upon, either through apathy, or through deliberate decision.  And if I don't like things, I also have a choice.  A choice to change the rules, and to find a way around.

It was heavy stuff for a Monday morning, I promise you that.  But it was the heavy stuff that my heart needed to remember.  Sometimes it's easy to get stuck in this idea that I "ended up" somewhere, or "it came out of nowhere".  That isn't entirely the case.  In the end, I put myself into a situation where life can happen, and it does.  That's not a bad thing, it's just a thing.  It's when I quit taking ownership of my choices that things tend to get bad.

So today, the thing is to live with a little bit more intention for my choices.  3% more.  And 3% more the next day.  Until someday, maybe, I'll be aware of how the small choices I make are creating the rules that shape my life.