If I'm Going To Take A Chance

Throughout our lives, we take chances, believe in our dreams, hope for the better, and live contained in promises that we will live our best lives. However, the reality is that we also face circumstances that we don't get to choose; we decide to accept the situations and live through them.

We don't choose our parents, families, or living as children. We choose our friends, though many are with us for a season; as we go through school, we may also choose our education. We develop relationships and choose who we love, marry, or commit our lives to. We choose to have a family, though the sex nor their inherited behaviors may not be our choice. We choose employment, retirement, and the life we seek to fulfill. We make what we think may be the best choices and chances for better lives.

However, reality dictates. Throughout our lives, we are faced with obstacles; we make mistakes, fall off our course, and find ourselves lost between needs and wants. Often confused, we become absorbed with what others see best for us. We take the chances given; what seems a way out and what becomes comfortable may not be the choice or chance we want to take or deserve.

As we get older, they say we get wiser... but does that make choosing or taking chances easier? In our lives, the reality is we depend on the choices of others. Often, we watch and follow the chances they've taken and their results as a guide. Our employers, co-workers, contracts, customers, and associates; our doctors, caregivers, associates, and friends give us opinions and change our course. We take a chance to believe their intentions are based on truth; they won't take our lives for granted or intentionally lead us astray.

But if I'm going to take a chance... why not start with prayer, with faith, with belief that blessings are entwined in each act of good, that my good days will outweigh my bad days, that there's a miracle awaiting my choices and changes, that my chances are a guide to my growth, and my changes are aligned with God's will.

Allowing faith to be my umbrella ... from the drizzles to the storms in life, if I'm going to take a chance and believe in living a purposeful life, I must commit to my faith, my beliefs as I have other people, and my daily prayers. We look over our journey, the past, the blessings, and the stressings. We seek the better, praying what we receive from others will be the best choice. We take chances ... we step out and accept them, but first, we must protect ourselves with faith.