We’ve all been there. Not wanting to be ungrateful for the good in your life—yet you can’t deny the sense that there is something so much better. You can feel it—dream of it.

Or perhaps you’ve stopped dreaming. You’ve simply accepted your current condition as the way it’s going to be: your standard of living; your marriage; your job; your level of health.

In either case, you’re right.

Your God-Given Superpower

One of my favorite Bible stories is recorded in Deuteronomy 30:15-20. To me, it’s always reminded me of ancient version of “The Price Is Right”. Moses is getting ready to hand over leadership to Joshua and the Israelites are about to take possession of the land God promised them.

Moses gets their collective attention by presenting them with a spiritual Door #1 and Door #2. Door #1 opens up to life and blessings. Door #2 opens up to death and curses. He tells them they need to make a choice.

Not a very tough choice, right? If only all our choices were so easy. But the reality was—they still had to choose.

And so do we.

One of the greatest gifts God has given each of us is the power to choose. I consider it a genuine superpower.

We can choose to believe that no matter how good our lives have been, there is something even greater to work towards. Or we can choose to accept our status quo is as good as it gets and nothing can be done about it. Either way, you can have what you choose.

Choices Or Chances?

You may have heard me say it before: Life is more about choices than chances.

We may want to blame our current state on parents, teachers, the time in which we were born, our horoscope, which side of the tracks we grew up on, our genetic makeup, etc.

But the truth is that we are primarily the end result of the choices we’ve made, more than what has happened to us.

Don’t buy into the “victim” mentality. I’m not trying to minimize any disadvantage you’ve experienced, but don’t let that determine the rest of your life.

True, you can’t control everything, and people and events do affect us. But, even though you can’t choose everything to work out as you want, you can choose how you respond. And those choices are what make the difference.

Zig Ziglar put it this way in his book, Raising Positive Kids:

We go thru life making thousands of choices and every choice has an end result. For example, for twenty-four years of my adult life by choice I weighed well over 200 pounds. I say “by choice” because I have never accidentally eaten anything. The reality is that when I choose to eat too much today I have chosen to weigh too much tomorrow…

Every choice, to repeat myself, has an end result.

The Choice Is Yours

You may be wishing a lot of things in your life were different. You might wish you…

• had a better job.
• made more money.
• lived in a different house or neighborhood.
• had a different schedule.
• weighed less.
• knew more about the Bible.
• were better at communicating.
• had a better marriage.
• etc, etc, etc!

I say, “But, you can change all that!” You might say…

• it’s too hard.
• great things always happen to other people, not me.
• I would love it if things were different but they’re unattainable.
• I don’t have the knowledge or resources.
• I don’t know the right people.
• I don’t have what I need.
• I can’t do it!

Again, you’d be right. It’s all about what you choose.

Flex Your “Choose” Muscle

Our power of choice is like a muscle. It becomes stronger with exercise and weaker by inactivity. Flexing your “choose” muscle can be as simple as:

• Choosing to not eat the second donut (or even the first).
• Choosing to take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Choosing to get up immediately—and cheerfully—when the alarm goes off.
• Choosing to wait 24-hours before making an impulsive purchase.
• Choosing to NOT say what you feel like saying.
• Choosing to be interested in others instead of trying to be interesting.
• Choosing to drink a glass of water instead of a soft drink.

What have you been wishing were different in your life recently? What have you been complaining about? What have you been telling others you wish you had or could do?

Every great step forward begins with a choice. Don’t settle for things as they are if you’re not satisfied with them. Don’t live as a victim of circumstances or other people. Flex your “choose” muscle and take charge instead of waiting for chance.

You can do this—but only you can do it.