“Choices”

Nikki Giovanni titled her poem “Choices,” though the poem is more about the choices she doesn’t have than those she does. Since she can’t have what she wants, go where she needs to go, or express what she really feels, her job is to want what she already has, to go where life points her, and to feel what she can express. The problem lies in the difference between the first list and the second-between her aspirations and the realities of her life. No matter our circumstances, the reality of our lives rarely satisfies our aspirations. Later in the poem, Giovanni concludes that humankind, alone among the animals, has for this reason learned to cry. Despite this travesty, Giovanni acknowledges that she nonetheless has some choices in deciding how she lives. The same is true of everyone else-especially those of us who live in developed nations. Many of us enjoy a bewildering array of options for how to spend our days: what to learn, where to live, how to earn a living, what to do with our time, and with whom to develop emotional and physical relationships. We also face options in more trivial matters, such as which brand of coffee maker to buy and whether to stay in for dinner or go out. Sometimes, the array borders on ridiculous.
#stewartlifecoaching #gratitude #choicesinlife