You choose: tear yourself down or build yourself up. It’s not about what happens to you; it’s about what you make happen.
Category: choices
Inspired: Your Next Step
“What should I do now?” It’s a daunting question. There are so many options; so many different paths I want to explore. I’m struggling to balance my curiosity and focus. This idea has helped: just add good things one at a time. And while you’re at it remove bad things one at a time. Suddenly, life just got a lot more fun and a lot less scary. What good thing will you add to your life today?
Inspired: I’m Proud of My Contradictions
I encourage authenticity in all people, and their right to make every choice that is right for them. It took me a long time to be proud of who I am at my core. I:
Love children and love love though I know the traditional family set up isn’t for me;
Grew up without enough and learned that I am enough;
Believe equally in the ancient wisdom of yoga and modern technology;
Am a New Yorker who lives in peace;
Am petite in stature and bold in personality;
Believe I have to be prepared to be lucky;
Have a plan and can let it go;
Am tough and fair, kind with a fierce sense of justice.
Who are you, contradictions and all? I’d love to hear from you!
Inspired: Know Your Worth
At some point we’ve all said to ourselves, “Take what you can get. Something is better than nothing.” Take the volume on that train of thought and turn it down to zero. Better yet, kick it to the curb and let it stay there, as far away from you as possible. Your time, mind, heart, and talent have an infinite amount of value. Don’t let anyone or anything make you think differently.
Inspired: Break free from the boxes
“Stay away from those boxes,” said Alec Horinman, my leadership professor from my MBA program at Darden. It was a phrase he often repeated in class and one he recently sent to me when I wrote him to let him know how much his teaching influenced my career and life everyday. The boxes Alec refers to are: the boxes we put ourselves into, the boxes others put us into, and the boxes we put around others.
Boxes are tempting. They give us order, comfort, and predictability. With boxes, we can stop thinking because we’ve already passed judgement. But they’re dangerous. They close us off to possibility, change, and growth. I’d rather take comfort in possibility, change, and growth. They are the things we can really count on.
Put away the boxes. Better yet, burn them. You don’t need them, nor do you need anyone who’s intent on using them.
Inspired: Be where you are
We spend so much time wishing we were someplace else that often we miss the little miraculous moments and all of the goodness that is in our presence every day. The older I get, the more I try to stand my ground, literally and figuratively. I try to see all the good, and even all the bad, everywhere I am. I try as hard as I can to channel the good to others and help the bad carry itself to higher ground. I’m not always successful though I find that more often than not the result of any situation has much more to do with me, my attitude, and my actions than it does with any external factors. This game of life is ours to lose, and honestly, I’d much prefer to win. And winning, at anything, anywhere, is almost always a choice.
Inspired: Make the leap
Eventually, the only choice is to leap. You will have to trust, yourself and others, if you want to fulfill your potential. There’s no need to wait or try another alternative. Go for exactly what you want. Take a deep breath and know that you can handle whatever happens next.
Inspired: A life of many leaps
Leaping is never a matter of one and done. Every day, we take chances. We lay our cards down the table and say, “This is who I am. This is what I care about. And this is why it matters.” Leaping is like breathing: we must keep leaping to attain the full benefit of each small step. It’s only when we combine them that we learn just how far we can go.
Inspired: We have to take our journey
“We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.” ~ Marcel Proust
Many people serve as teachers, mentors, and advisors throughout our lives. We are inspired by the journeys of others. We follow opportunities as we discover them and if we don’t find the opportunities we want, we make them. In the end, the journey is ours to take. Others can support us and encourage us along the way, though we have to follow the path on our own two feet. Ultimately the choices are yours. You are the only one who can live your life. Choose wisely, and from your own heart.
Inspired: Use the past to help you rise
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
I think about this line on my way to every rehearsal for Sing After Storms. A piece of my past is embedded in every character, every line. I wrote the play to make sense of things on the page that never made sense in my life. I suppose that’s why anyone ever writes anything—to be helpful, to be free, to be heard. We move forward though we can’t help but be informed by where we’ve been and what we’ve survived. It can dicey territory. We can be sucked into the past or use it to buoy us up and over it. I choose to let it help me rise, and intend to lift others in the process.
Christa Avampato 