You Have a Choice by Leanne Ely, CNC

You Have a Choice

by Leanne Ely, C.N.C

Dear Friends,

In the everyday scheme of things, your quality of life is dependent on the choices you make. Really understanding the muscle of your own choices is totally empowering and has the capacity for realigning your life direction. Knowing who is in control and realizing that you don't have to take your marching orders from a bag of M & M's or a two year old can be revolutionary. Let me explain.

We are almost trained by this culture to take on the mantle of victim. A famous lawsuit over spilled hot coffee from a fast food establishment is a good example. Rather than take responsibility for the fact that the coffee was hot (as coffee should be), this individual blamed the company for not providing a warning and consequently, this individual won a substantial lawsuit and profited off this phenomenon of "victimization". [Sunshine's interjection:  This is a famous case, and while I worked in the restaurant industry, I found out more about it.  The other side of the story is actually very interesting.  The McDonald's in question was serving coffee at near-boiling temperatures and hotter than you need coffee to ever be!  They had been asked to turn down their coffee formally at least three times, and failed to comply.  They had already burned other patrons.  The poor old lady who got the coffee in her lap suffered 3rd degree burns from the boiling stuff, causing pain and disfigurement.  She was parked and very carefully opened the coffee.  So there's more to the story than "dur, coffee's hot, don't spill it."  You can read more here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants, and it's actually fairly interesting.  Nonetheless, there are lots of "victim" stories in our news, and people really do need to take control of and responsibility for our own choices.]

That's a rather dramatic example, but we place ourselves in the victim role everyday. I am going to bet somewhat unaware of it, too. The examples I used from the first paragraph are good ones. Did you know that no matter what, a bag of M & M's will never hug you, never say an encouraging word to you, and can never love you like a real live human can?

Did you also know that 2 year old children don't have the brain skills yet for abstract thinking? Therefore, their attempts at absolute tyranny are (or should be!) ineffective and leaves YOU in charge. You don't have to be pushed around anymore by the whim of a 2 year old if you decide you're ready to be the boss (that doesn't mean you have to be unpleasant; just FIRM. Smile when you say no or redirect your little one!).

You have control over what goes in your child's cereal bowl every morning, too. You're the one buying the groceries; you're the one who should decide which cereal you'll spend your hard earned money on. Which is a better nutritional investment for your child-- artificially flavored and colored sugary, tooth decaying fake food or a lesser known brand of whole grain cereal without added sugars, artificial sweeteners, colorings, etc.?

Food is fuel for the human vehicle. The better the quality of the fuel, the better we feel and the more we enjoy our lives. Our bodies house our souls and it's the only "soul vehicles" we will ever be given. Treat yourself better than you do your car. That vehicle can be replaced-you cannot.

Love,
Leanne Ely
Your Dinner Diva since 2001
http://savingdinner.com for a Free Menu-Mailer when you get a our Daily Dish

Republished from Leanne's newsletter.  Find out more about Leanne and how you can SAVE dinner by visiting her website above.