There is power in our choices. Conversely, there is potential energy in the choices we have not yet made. And when we make a choice, things start to move.

I will quote Abraham Hicks because I think this sums it up so well: “Make more decisions everyday. Because a decision is a summoning of life. Have you ever been a place where you couldn’t quite make up your mind and you just felt sort of limp? “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.” And then you decided, and you felt alive again. One thing we want you to know is, you cannot get it wrong. So, make a decision. Let it flow.”

Often, when we feel stagnant or stuck, it is because we are stubbornly not budging, not choosing, not deciding. So we are resisting the flow of life — being a big heavy boulder hunkered down in the stream, instead of being more like a rolling, tumbling, carefree pebble.

And sometimes, we end up choosing by not choosing. Despite our best efforts to resist, the flow of life is stronger, so it eventually pushes us along. But this is not the kind of movement that activates energy. This kind of change by default is characterized by the slow seeping away, draining of energy. This kind of change erodes our power when we do not choose.

The most powerful choices are the choices that we make for a reason… the choices that are powered with a WHY. A choice that is directed by design and driven by devotion.

A few years ago, I saw a public art installation in Chicago, which was created by artist and changemaker Amber Rae. It was called The World We Want. Since September 2014, this wall for collective introspection has been shared in dozens of cities around the world. The core message behind her creation is elegantly simple, and at the same time, profoundly lens shifting.

The World We Want walls invite viewers into the experience, to actively engage as makers. You are both audience and artist when you meet one of these community art installations. These chalkboard walls are made up of a larger-than-life patchwork of squares — each square presents two simple sentence completions for your consideration.

“I want to see a world where…”

“To create this world, I will…”

Simple. Hopeful. Empowering. It makes a direct link between our desires with our actions.

When I first encountered this exhibition in Chicago, in November 2014, I wrote.

“I want to live in a world where people’s work is more aligned with purpose than with money.”

A simple vision.

“To create this  world, I will quit my corporate job and design my life on my own terms.”

A single choice, a difficult one to make, but one that was realistically within reach.

Today I can see my desire being transformed into reality in my own experience of life. It is now beginning to expand beyond me and touch others too. It all started with my work on myself, which is always ongoing. It started with one hard decision, powered by my deepest desire.

Too often, we waste our energy moaning about how things are not the way we want them to be instead of investing energy in creating what we do want to see.

The avoidance or denial of personal responsibility leads us sitting by the sidelines, feeling impotent and frustrated. It lulls us into complacency and complaining – a no-win state of mind where we leave our power lying on the table, or swept under the rug. Untapped. Unused.

What choice can you make today to create the kind of world you want to see?

Note:

The image used on this blog is from The World We Want movement, which is created by Amber Rae. To learn more about this movement, make sure to check her Facebook, personal website, and The World We Want website.