The wealth of options we have to choose from today has extended personal freedom to an extent that would have been inconceiveable even a hundred years ago.

Life-styles and religions are choices that are easily interchangeable.  In the past a hunter was a hunter untile he died, a blacksmith spent his whole life working on his craft.  We can now cast away our occupational identities at will:  no one needs to remain an accountant forever.

But an inevitable consequence of equally attractive choices in uncertainty of purpose.   This uncertainty can sap your resolution, and lack of resolve ends up devaluing choice.  Committment to a goal and to the rules it entails is much easier when the choices are few and clear.

Then how do we simplify our choices into more lucid goals?

Through trial and error, through intense cultivation, we can straighten out the tangled web of conflicting goals and choose one that will give purpose to action.

So take some time off today or this week, and really get inside your own head and heart.  “Know Thyself” and reflect upon what it is you want with your life.   Here is a great post on finding your inner genius from Reverse Thinking, one of my favorite blogs by Dr. John Eaton.

But be sure to spend your time contemplating alone.  Turn the TV off.  Take the battery out of your cell phone.   Get a pen and notebook out and just write what thoughts come to your mind.   Your mind.  Not your friends’ mind.  Not your parents’ mind.  Not what Oprah thinks you should do.

Highlight or type and print out the things you feel strongest about and consider placing them some place that you will view frequently, like your bathroom mirror, or your guitar case ; )

Good luck!

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