The choices we make, make us

Everyday we make numerous choices about what we will do and how we will act. But, one psychologist believes "that only about 5 percent of what we do in a given day is the outcome of conscious, deliberate choices we make, processed by that snowball on the tip of the iceberg that is human consciousness. The rest of our actions and behaviors are managed below the surface, by all sorts of learned yet now unconscious ways of intending and navigating the world...Aristotle called them 'second nature': because these are ways that we move in the world without thinking about it." This information comes from an excellent book titled You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit by James K. A. Smith.

Earlier in the book Smith quotes another individual who tells us, "Your deepest desire...is the one manifested by your daily life and habits." Smith writes that "This is because our action - our doing - bubbles up from our loves, which, as we've observed, are habits we've acquired through the practices we're immersed in."

Most of the time, when we are confronted with choices to make we will make the ones that bring us the most satisfaction, the most pleasure, the most enjoyment, and we will continue making that choice for the same reasons. Eventually, we no longer have to make a conscious choice about the matter. That choice has become a habit that we now do without giving it much thought. That habit can then begin to control us and shape us into the person we become. This can be either a good thing or a bad thing.

Few, if any, drug addicts woke up one morning and decided to destroy their lives by becoming addicted to drugs. Someone offered them a drug, and they chose to consume it. As they continued to make the decision to use drugs one day they didn't have to make the decision any more. It was made for them the moment they woke up and their body began to cry out for the drug. The same thing occurs any time someone becomes addicted to a substance or a behavior. Perhaps millions of people are as addicted to their electronics and social media as a coke addict is addicted to cocaine.

On the other hand, one can choose to be a person filled with a positive outlook on life. Such a person radiates positive energy towards everyone he or she meets. This person maintains a positive outlook on life. These are choices a person can make, and as this choice is made consistently over time it eventually shapes the person into someone who is generally positive and upbeat about life.

Since our choices can make us into the person we become we need to be very careful about the choices we make. It is equally important to be careful about the people with whom we associate. It's very difficult to consistently make positive choices if we are hanging around with those who are not as careful about the choices they make.

I encourage you to first identify the person you want to be and then determine the choices you need to make to become that person. This will not happen overnight, but eventually the choices you make will make you into the person you will become.