by Shauna Arthurs

Created on: October 21, 2008

We have been told we can have, be and do ANYTHING we can imagine. How exhilarating!

At the same time, a little-spoken-about phenomenon often occurs when we begin contemplating change in our lives. We have decided to open our minds and pick from the multitude of potential opportunities awaiting us, and it's very exciting. So why do we sometimes feel overwhelmed by the choices?

The Past

Remember when you were a child and you changed what you wanted to be 'when you grew up' almost daily? Of course it felt like you had all the time in the world, and from that space of limitless possibilities, you knew you could explore and change your mind and explore some more. YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DECIDE.

Fast-forward to the adult world, many years later. Life - at least this life - seems a little more finite. Choices seem a lot more set in stone, and more difficult to change. You know what? They ARE more difficult to change. We have much more deeply developed personalities, beliefs and behavior patterns as adults, and often they stem from years of acting in a certain way. Somehow, we have lulled ourselves into thinking that we are not at cause; that things outside of us are to blame or at fault - or occasionally to credit - for major events and minor irritations in our lives.

The Present

Along comes the discovery (reminder?) that we can create our lives to order. We learn that we can think our way into a new reality, and we have more control than we've been giving ourselves credit for. ALL of our experiences are based on what we have been thinking. Before now, we believed it was:

EXPERIENCE >>> REACT >>> EXPERIENCE

when instead it really works like this:

BE/THINK >>> EXPERIENCE >>> REACT/CREATE BASED ON FEEDBACK/EXPERIENCE

There is an important key here which allows for integrating more power into your life by making conscious choices, but first let's review what happens. When people begin to realize how much possibility they really have, it can feel so overwhelming that instead of being exciting, it becomes scary or intimidating. How can we choose when there is such sheer volume of possibilities from which to choose? Underneath the excitement and sense of freedom lies fear, apprehension and lack of surety. This phenomenon leads to paralysis, ie. doing nothing instead of something, which, of course, brings the same result as having had no choices at all.

A Solution

Facing our mortality is one way to really put our potential choices in sharp focus. When

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