Thank heavens for choice

I think I’m the luckiest person on earth. I was born healthy and into a loving family. I’ve always had enough food to eat, clothes on my back and a roof over my head. My family lived in comfort and dignity in a safe, peaceful country. These are things I had no control over, and I couldn’t have asked for a better way for things to have worked out. There is, however, one thing I’m the most thankful for – choice. Whenever I reflect on my life, I realize how much control I’ve had over it. I realize that beyond what I was already blessed with, it is choice that allows me to shape my life into something I am proud of and happy in.

I wouldn’t consider myself spoiled, but I had absolutely no paucity of resources while growing up. More than the resources themselves, I’m thankful for the many choices that were available to me as a result of these resources. My most expensive choice changed my life. Leaving home to don Orange and Blue was a choice that I am very thankful I got to make.

Another thing that characterized my upbringing was the emotional freedom I had to make my own choices. Anyone whom I have told about my upbringing knows how much I rebelled against societal values, whether they came from within my family or outside of it. It was a miserable time during which I battled with confusion, disillusionment and an identity crisis. However, that experience turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because in the process, I got to choose my own values. I got to see beyond the cocoon that encased my immediate environment. In the end, I appreciate my parents letting me choose my values, even when they conflicted with theirs most of the time.

Choice is a very subtle gift that takes a lot of reflection to recognize. It is easy to recognize money, but it is slightly harder to recognize the choices available as a result of that money. It is easy to recognize the permissions that were so easy to get, but it is slightly harder to recognize the choice that one gets to exercise because of those permissions. Choice is indeed the greatest gift my parents have given me.

There are aspects of my life that I had no control over. However, beyond that, I am fortunate enough to have been able to decide my fate through my own decisions and actions. Now I am able to make choices that change my life for the better. I am also able to make my own mistakes and learn from them. Even during difficult times, I can hold my head up high and tell myself that this is the life I chose.