Making Choices

Every day, we are faced with choices. Some of them really don’t matter—do I wear a red sweater or a crimson sweater? Do I want turkey or chicken? Should I watch a re-run of Friends or Spongebob Squarepants? But other choices, they do matter, and part of being an adult, in my opinion, is how you make those choices.


Some days, yes, you have to throw caution to the wind and go play. But I’m finding more and more, for myself, that my choices are more considered now. I am on low-carb. I could easily go over the 50 carb limit, and sometimes I do, but I try to keep those days very limited—mainly on special days.

Yesterday (well, today but before midnight), was my birthday. I had planned to go out to dinner with friends and yes, I was going to indulge—knowingly, accepting that it was a special day and I felt I deserved to let go a little. However, with the weather so freaky here, we had to postpone our plans. Which meant that no, we didn’t go out.


So, did I still eat whatever I wanted? Nobody would have known—except me and my body. And there was the answer. My body would have known that I chose to go over the carb limit, and since I’m still planning to go out with friends once the storms are gone and I still plan to eat whatever I want, it would have been cheating my health. And I am no longer willing to gamble my health by poor eating habits.

So I chose to have celery and some peanut butter. How many carbs? I ended up at 53. Three carbs over and that, well, that’s not too shabby. I consider today a good day. And I’m not hungry, and the celery and peanut butter—tasty. Oh, yeah, I would have preferred chocolate, but I wouldn’t have felt good about my choices.

I make choices every day—about work, about how I spend my time, about my ethical decisions. I choose to be the person I am—every choice I make defines me. Granted, some choices prove that there’s a part of me who’s still seven years old and a little devil, but overall, when an important decision comes up, or when I’m faced with want versus duty, I try to pick the choice that will make me proud of myself. That will make me look back and say, “I did what was right.”

So choices…whether it be celery or chocolate…the important thing is to think about your choice, and to take the responsibility for the paths you choose to take in life.


Yasmine