question...

i'm always told every asspect of life is choice, and you control your own destiny (which i'm not entirely against,) their are choices we make every day- what to do with our day, what to eat, who to spend time with, etc

but do you think all asspects of life are a choice?

given people's mental health, for example.. let's say you're agoraphobic and want to travel the world, but can't- because you can't leave the house, or you want to go to all the social events you can, and make friends with everyone- but can't because you find it difficult to make friends, and difficult to relate?

i'm just curious.. where do you draw the line with the statement, "life is a choice"

[Angelique67]

Originally Posted by shattered sanity

question...

i'm always told every asspect of life is choice, and you control your own destiny (which i'm not entirely against,) their are choices we make every day- what to do with our day, what to eat, who to spend time with, etc

but do you think all asspects of life are a choice?

given people's mental health, for example.. let's say you're agoraphobic and want to travel the world, but can't- because you can't leave the house, or you want to go to all the social events you can, and make friends with everyone- but can't because you find it difficult to make friends, and difficult to relate?

i'm just curious.. where do you draw the line with the statement, "life is a choice"

I believe everything is a choice, even starting from being born and choosing your parents.

But that doesn't mean we dont also have very fated lives. I've spent a lot of time pondering this question, since I've been studying astrology and metaphysics since the mid 80s. The birth chart is like a clock, with events being ticked off all throughout life. It's pretty amazing and wonderful.

[Fuzzybear]

I don't believe we choose our parents

[Onward2wards]

I believe life is a choice to a degree. You can't make a choice if you legitimately don't know your options. You can't make a good choice if you do not believe you have any options. Also, we're not all powerful.

Believing that life is a choice, and spreading that belief, can be empowering. It is not empowering if it is used to blame or diminish people however, including ourselves.

Psychology calls this a locus of control. What that means is to what extent do you believe outside forces influence your life. Thus it's put into two categories: internal locus of control, and external locus of control.

There are many things in life that you can control: what you eat, drink, take illegal drugs, hard work and determination, etc. However, there are also many things that you cannot control: another person's decisions, the orbit of the earth, living forever, etc.

Most people agree that it's best to have an internal locus of control, but keep in mind that there are things that are beyond your control.

[Angelique67]

Originally Posted by Onward2wards

I believe life is a choice to a degree. You can't make a choice if you legitimately don't know your options. You can't make a good choice if you do not believe you have any options. Also, we're not all powerful.

Believing that life is a choice, and spreading that belief, can be empowering. It is not empowering if it is used to blame or diminish people however, including ourselves.

Isn't the former assertion kind of the same as 'ignorance of the law is no excuse'? I have a ton of things wrong with my brain lately so I may or may not be making sense lol. *1

Even in a situation where we are mostly powerless, there are micro choices (Hahaha!). *2

And by the way, I'm only just recently a tester for a free will paradigm. I was arguing fate, in all ways fate, for over 3 decades, due both to astrology, and my pique at the unfairness of life and the world.

Either way, both have their pros and cons and I believe a mixture of them are behind everything on earth.

ETA: *1) a lawyer once screamed that at me, and it left a real impression!

*2) because I'm amused by the recent ascendance of the phrase micro aggression.

[Onward2wards]

Originally Posted by Angelique67

And by the way, I'm only just recently a tester for a free will paradigm

I read just this week that conscious awareness appears to be a passive function. In other words, being aware we have a problem does not imply we understand how to solve it, nor cause immediate action to correct it. In order to change anything, we need first awareness of it, then understanding of it, then the belief and motivation to attempt to change it. Over time we observe what is working and what isn't, and can hopefully gather the motivation to try again.

Parts of life are a choice...but not all of it. I used to be very fixated on the fact I didn't choose to be born, that was completely out of my hands, and if it had been a choice I would have stopped it... And because I couldn't choose to be born I should at least be able to make the choice to die. I guess it's not that easy though. Making choices and those actually working out how you want it are very different...

I do believe in choice. Even animals have the capacity to make choices and act upon them. But, even given an opportunity to choose I'm not so sure it is a simple matter to do so. Intuition has much to do with it as well as cultural pressures etc. Then there are the 'choices' we make as a result of being concerned about making the choice others believe as the correct thing to do. My life is so much the result of heeding this. So many of the decisions I have made in my life have nothing to do with what I wanted to do nor what would have been the best for me. Instead I have run my life opting for what others would have deemed the right thing to have done. So, while we are born with the capacity to choose we are so very often not in the position to do so. The whole animal kingdom has the potential to make choices, but I think it is only mankind that has this potential undermined.