Isn’t it strange how a circumstance or an event can surround you for hours, days, weeks, months, sometimes even years on end, but you can still remain completely blind to the truth of it? Until that one moment when something hits you. Something opens your eyes and makes you think twice – as if some alternative form of your self was tapping you on the shoulder telling you that things really are as they seem. They are not altered to your preference, they are not subject to circumstance, and they are not misconstrued because of your own optimistic ideals. Things are what they are. People are depicted by their actions and their words and the choices that they make. And when you’re looking at that pile of choices that others have made that have affected you so deeply for so long, you may find yourself wondering how it got so big — how you got to be standing in front of it, faced with a choice of whether to go around it or to work through it. That is your moment. It is the moment in which clarity is found and you finally know what it is that’s best for you, and not for anyone else.

The hardest part about that moment is that it comes with responsibility. You know what’s best for you, but are you brave enough to follow through with the necessary steps it takes to bring happiness upon yourself? Are you courageous enough to not drag your past into your future where it so clearly does not belong? And are you appreciative enough of yourself to know that what’s best for you must take priority over absolutely everything and everyone else? It is in this moment that you choose whether or not to grow, to gain strength, to acquire wisdom, and to allow all of the wonderful possibilities of life to make their way into your heart.

Reliving a bad experience is going to do nothing but bring back negative feelings and hurt. Talking over and over again about situations that have disappointed you will do nothing but prevent any possible healing. Fighting against circumstances that are thrown in your face with no hope for reversal will do nothing but aggravate and frustrate you. So do yourself a favor… make a choice. Make a choice to focus on something other than past struggles. Make a choice to work towards accepting things that you simply cannot change. Make a choice to keep a small piece of hope in your heart that a lesson will be learned from the bad things that have happened. And most importantly, make a choice, every single day, to be happy.