The Choices
What Are We Choosing And Why Are We Choosing It?
“The only place where we can exercise our freedom of choice is in the present.”
~Edith Eger, The Choice
The turning point that ended my time as a Pittsburgh Public School teacher was when an administrator at the Board of Education informed me that I did not have a choice in how I would respond as my punishment for reporting an assault perpetrated by a vice-principal. When she told me that I had no choice, I looked over at my union rep who began shaking his head no, in an attempt to avert what he knew was coming.
Before I proceed to share, I need to let you know that who I was at the time of this story was far angrier, ashamed, guilt-ridden, and battered than the me who is sharing this story (though he is still with me). Where was I?
Right…,
“You will not be transferred to a new school. You will remain at that school until you have sufficiently proven yourself. You do not have a choice; do you understand me? You do not have a choice!”
No sooner than when the words left her mouth and the union rep began shaking his head, the fire in my gut exploded into a full-on blaze as the internal volcano erupted. I could feel the heat and sparks of the explosion bouncing around in my skull as the words from the old TV series The Incredible Hulk echoed in my mind, “Don’t make me angry. You would not like me when I’m angry.” And just that simple, I raised my right hand and as I began to talk, I showed two fingers to indicate the two options I was about to express.
“You are incorrect. The way I see it I have at least two options to choose from. I can do as you say (I pointed at the index finger of my right hand with my left) or… I can quit (I retraced the right index finger leaving only the right middle finger hovering in the air)!”
I shook the rep’s hand, thanked him, stood up, and walked out of the office.
I share this to illustrate that we always have choices even when it seems like we have none. One reason we tend to see things in a far more limited manner is that the options and choices we want are not always the ones we have before us.
Growing up, my father told me on quite a few occasions that I could choose something other than what I was currently deeming as inevitable and unavoidable. For example, one day I was moping around the house looking quite pitiful according to my dad.
What’s going on with you, why are you looking so pitiful like you lost your best friend?”
“Nothing. I’m just bored.”
“Bored?! Go do something.”
“There’s nothing to do.”
“Nothing to do, is that right?”
“Yes sir.”
“So, correct me if I am wrong, but you could ride your bike, you could read a book, you could draw, you could go for a walk, you could go over Brodie’s house, you could walk to the park.”
Looking a bit dumbfounded at the simplicity of his words, I agreed that he was correct, “but, I don’t want to do any of those things.”
“Then say that. Don’t say there is nothing to do when there is plenty you could do.”
“Yes sir.”
After what seemed like an extended pause, I said, “ I want to go to the movies.”
“Then go do that.”
“No one else wants to go.”
“Then go alone.”
Wait… what did he just say? It was like a lightbulb with the brilliance of the sun burst forth into my awareness. I assumed that going to the movies alone was not an option and my dad like a wise Zen Yoda just unlocked the sound of one hand clapping … viola!
Enlightenment!
Not really, just the realization that I could choose to go to the movies alone, which is exactly what I did!
We choose all kinds of things from what to wear, what to eat, and where to shop. Even those who experience addictions find themselves at choice points at various times and for many, those choices result in them getting clean and sober.
I am offering this reminder at this time in our global history to illustrate that there is no man, woman, person, policy, legislation, principalities, or powers that can deny our divinity. Which means our sovereign power is ever present and ready to be embodied and expressed.
“Your silence will not protect you.”
~Audre Lorde
The Montgomery bus boycotts and the Civil Rights movement did not happen by chance but by choice.
The Suffragist movement was the expression of a choice.
The Gay Liberation Movement was the out-picturing of a choice.
The ACT UP movement wasn’t simply a response to Regan and the many others dragging their feet regarding HIV/AIDS research and funding, it was a choice!
Gandhi chose to resist the British Empire.
Nelson Mandela chose to forgive and emerge from prison as the man who would be president.
We have the avatars and bodhisattvas who have demonstrated the power of choice and the power of an idea whose time has come and of a people who are ready to make that idea manifest.
The question is, will we choose to do the same?
Will we choose liberation and democracy or apathy, complacency, and metaphysical malpractice or fear, or Life-Affirming Faith and Action?
“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
~Audre Lorde
Dr. Edith Eger, a survivor of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Hitler regime, reminds us, “Change is about noticing what’s no longer working and stepping out of the familiar, imprisoning patterns.”
Are we noticing?
Are we setting ourselves and others free?
Rev. Raymont Anderson, PhD., the spiritual director of The Center for Spiritually Integrated Arts, author of Moving Mountains: The Journey of Transformation and Visual Music: Interpreting Songs in American Sign Language
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Excellent reminder that we are perpetually at choice regardless of the emotion we are feeling at every moment. As you said, there are always at least two choices: Do nothing, or do something...and then it expands exponentially from there.