We Always Have a Choice in How Our Story Ends

I believe we always have a choice in how our stories end. In who we choose to be and where we ultimately end up. But that doesn’t mean we’re in full control of the plotline as we go. It doesn’t mean there’s a fixed way things “should” or “shouldn’t” be.

This pandemic and its global economic impact are proof of that.

Life is always happening around us, in ways big and small. Some things are direct consequences of our action or inaction, while others are entirely out of our hands. Regardless, these things shape who we are, where we’re going, and ultimately who we will become.

We may not always have a choice in how things go or how they ultimately turn out, but we still have a choice around how we choose to respond. Always, always.

This is a truth I hold firmly, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t feel our feelings and sit in the sh*t for longer than is comfortable. It doesn’t mean we don’t experience confusion and uncertainty. It doesn’t mean we never feel anger, terror, frustration, or grief.

Choosing to own our experience and feel our feelings fully is a hugely important piece of choosing how we respond. Because if all we do is stuff things down and plaster over everything with polished positivity, then we’re choosing to stall out and get stuck. We’re choosing to make ourselves sick in our bodies and our souls.

We will be better for all this if we choose to be.
But that doesn’t mean it won’t hurt like hell until then.
That doesn’t mean it won’t be hard and heartbreaking.

Feel your feelings all the way through.

Let them break you down and break you open so that you can continue choosing to step into what comes next. So that you can keep showing up fully and meeting each moment as it comes. So that you’re able to navigate your way through to the other side with a bit more grace, and you have a say in how your story ends.

You’re not alone in your grief or anger.
You’re not the only one feeing terror and frustration.
And you’re not the only one who is grieving all the loss.

Keep showing up to face each day.
Will we be better for this if we choose to be.
And if we’re willing to feel it all fully as it comes.