The Power of Choices

Every Decision Shapes Your Life

Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash

As I sat at the computer this morning thinking about my next article, the word “choices” came to mind. My mind shouted, “But you’ve written about them many times before.”

But every day, I realize again the incredible and irrevocable gift we have—the power to choose the path and details of our lives. So, yes, this is one more article about this gift.

If people aren’t happy at work, they can change their profession. If they know their diet determines their health and their bedtime decisions dictate how they feel the next morning and are displeased, they can do something different.

It’s not only about work, food, and bedtime choices, though; it’s about partner and financial decisions and choosing to see events positively or negatively.

Looking back, we made some wise choices early in our lives. We didn’t smoke or drink and saved for retirement. In our 50s, we began exercising and eating more nutritiously and were healthy and financially safe in later years.

Today, I can choose curly French fries and a hamburger for lunch or a salad. That choice supports or hinders my plan to age well. Just as selecting positive thoughts rather than negative ones will.

So, if I know my goals, I can measure my choices against them—will they keep me going in the direction I want? Will they help me age well?

However, with each choice comes consequences. It never occurred to me to consider that connection when I was younger, but today, I live with the results of my past choices.

My parents smoked, but I never tried it. My Dad died from emphysema, and my Mom died from smoking-related illnesses. That decision not to smoke cigarettes when I was 12 years old continues to be a good one.

I’ve adopted the idea of the Centurian Decathlon as a way of organizing myself for my later years.

The idea is to choose ten physical activities I want to be able to do at a given age—my decathlon includes mental activities as well—and then figure out what I need to do in the present to achieve that future by considering these questions.

• What does your ideal life look like at that age? Who are you with? What are you doing? How do you feel? Where are you?

• To create that future, what are the necessary actions in the present? What actions, habits, and behaviors do you need to adopt today to create that end?Choosing ten physical tasks.

Since I will soon be 86, my plan covers me until I’m 100. I want to continue walking, maintaining my independence, playing with my great-grandchildren, writing and doing art, and being with family.

So, today, I regularly walk and exercise even though I don’t always want to, make choices to stay engaged in life, write and practice art daily, see my great-grandchildren regularly so they know me, and make healthy choices to stay independent.

Some days are easier than others, but if I don’t do those things now, I surely won’t be able to do them later.

P. S. I’d love to have you share the Aging Well Newsletter with others. I want to bring the lessons I’ve learned through my years of life and caregiving to as many people as possible. More than anything, I want to continue to expand our community of readers.

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 Janice Walton is a psychologist, a widow, a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, and a writer. Her book Aging Well: 30 Lessons for Making the Most of Your Later Years is available on Amazon, and she has written articles for Substack for four years.