The Power to Choose

One night, as I got ready for bed, I decided to pray. “Please, can I choose? I want to decide what my life looks like. I want to shape how things go. I want to feel like the director of my own show.”

There’s so much I can’t control, so I wondered… is there a remote control for life? How great would it be to turn off everything I don’t like—just like switching off a boring movie? “The power to choose… what an amazing power!” I thought.

The next morning, I woke up feeling excited. Choices were everywhere! “Which shoes should I wear—green, red, or brown? Who should I sit with at lunch? My usual friends, or maybe some new ones? What should I do after school? Watch a movie or ride my bike to the park?”

As I looked at my clothes, it hit me: I make so many choices every day! It was time to get dressed, and in that moment, I realized… I have the power to choose!

I could wear what my mom picked out (which usually works). Or I could ask nicely to try something different. I have tons of fun ideas I want to explore! Slowly, I started to understand my power to choose. I get to decide how things go. If I choose to be stubborn and get mad, my mom and I might argue. But choosing to go along with her idea seemed like a better plan.

Of course, I could also choose to stay in my pajamas all day, but then I wouldn’t be able to go outside… so that choice didn’t seem like the best one.

My mouth dropped open. I didn’t need anyone to give me a director’s title—it was already mine! Every day, I have the power to choose, and with it, I truly feel like the director of my own show.

We get to choose our thoughts. It’s up to us if we want to think about astronauts or dinosaurs. We decide how we look at things. Someone else might see just a hat, but we can choose to see something magical—like an elephant inside a boa, just like The Little Prince did.

We get to decide. What we see is up to us. How we feel is our choice, too. We don’t have to get mad unless we let someone make us mad. We can always choose to ignore what bothers us and count to four.

It’s easy to forget that we have choices every day. But we are the rulers of our own kingdom. We have the freedom to choose!

Challenge: Think about the choices you can make to be the best director of your life and create the greatest show ever!