13 Jun The Power of Conscious Choice

Written by Jessi Kohlhagen

You have been blessed with the power to choose.

Every living, breathing moment, you are making a choice.

What to eat, how to move, how to react, how to breathe, what information to consume, what desires to indulge, how much to work, how much to play, who to connect with, how to care for yourself…

The average adult makes around 35,000 choices each day.

The beautiful thing about being human is that we have the power to make these choices consciously or unconsciously. And whichever we choose will consistently deliver, in tangible and measurable form, a quality of experience that harmonizes with our choices.

The Evolution of Our Consciousness

Making conscious choices can be a tricky thing, because our experience of “consciousness” is a moving, evolving, unfolding experience.

It’s extremely difficult (if not impossible) to see our current blind spots because, well, we’re blind to them!

This is where the commitment to never-ending growth comes in… and why being a committed seeker (a.k.a. badass sorcerer of intention and master of extraordinary living) is so magical.

By being consistent in our self-observation, self-questioning and self-experimentation, we empower ourselves to peel back our layers and continually discover a deeper truth to who we are.

With each new level of our personal growth, we unearth radical new awareness that didn’t exist before.

Each breakthrough we experience helps us understand life concepts more deeply, see ourselves and others more clearly, and act and respond more holistically.

This is why we mustn’t be too hard on ourselves when we get it wrong (remembering, too, that even “wrong” can sometimes be a stepping stone in the right direction).

Humans aren’t built to understand, experience, and master everything at once. Our lives are made up of unfolding moments that belong to a much bigger picture, but the momentary experience is all we’ll ever know. Even our memories are mental and emotional projections from the place of this moment.

Our highest growth consists in continually being our best — right here, right now.

No matter how evolved we become, there are always deeper levels of consciousness and truth waiting to be tapped.

This is one of the great secrets to life: Simply remembering that this very moment is the only destination we’ll ever know, and buried in the heart of it is a deeper consciousness waiting to awaken, if we choose it.

This conscious awakening occurs in our moments of choice, where we always have the potential to choose the most uplifting option, and be led into something new and wonderful.

Self-empowerment is always only one right choice away.

Conscious vs. Unconscious Choice

Lifebookers are likely already very aware of their “conscious choices.”

These are choices such as exercising daily, eating healthy, waking early, acts of kindness, cleaning up after ourselves, prioritizing our most important tasks… you get the idea.

And let’s not forget that many of the conscious daily choices we’ve now mastered were, at one point in our lives, unconscious blind spots.

This is proof that as we become more conscious of the choices we make, we can affect positive lasting change in our lives.

Now let’s look a little deeper…

We may be well aware of our “conscious choices.” Yet most of us are relatively unaware of the deeper reasons behind how and why we think and operate the way we do on a moment-to-moment basis. We remain blind to the subtle thoughts, beliefs, feelings and patterns, which mold and impact absolutely everything in our lives.

If our choices determine the kind and quality of nearly all the results in our lives, we should deeply investigate how and why we make them.

Only after we develop the habit of consistent inner observation and truly begin to understand our patterns can we consciously and intentionally choose more of what we love, and align ourselves with our heart and soul purpose.

No action is needed at first. It’s certainly simpler than any of us make it out to be. Through the simple processes of observation and awareness we begin to truly know ourselves, and create the space needed to shift into new ways of being.

Nearly all spiritual teachings inspire us to recognize that the power of choice is the vehicle that converts our thoughts into form, our energies into matter, our spirits into flesh.

Choice is the process of creation itself.

The Catalysts of Faith and Fear

Every single choice we make is charged with the energy of either fear or faith.

I like using “love,” “trust,” or “empowerment” as alternative words for faith, since the word faith itself often carries all kinds of unexamined baggage.

No matter which words you choose, the essence of the concept is that our choices are seeds that are rooted in either expansion or constriction… freedom or captivity… creation or destruction.

Your life — and its events, conditions and circumstances — are nothing more than a mirrored reflection of the mindset that you are either consciously or unconsciously operating from.

In order to become more conscious of our mode of operation, all we need to do is bring simple attention to what motivates our decision-making.

To do this, it can be helpful to remember that it’s not so much what we choose that’s important… it’s the reason we choose it.

When we begin paying attention to our motivations, we discover that all of our decisions contain the energy of either faith or fear.

We’re offered countless opportunities each day, but our patterned responses and desire to remain comfortable and safe keep us trapped in the same familiar loops. All the while, we profess that the circumstances of our lives are what limit us.

To a great extent, our beliefs about ourselves and our own capabilities, as well as how we see the world and the forces at play in it, affect what we find possible. These beliefs impact our choices. Our choices shape our actions, and our actions determine our results.

These intrinsic motivations (faith and fear), which lie beneath every decision we make, are what truly hold the greatest power of influence over the outcomes in our lives.

So next time you’re faced with a choice… pause, take a breath, observe your natural impulse, and ask yourself, “Am I playing out a familiar loop, or am I choosing consciously?”