Moments of Choice

Photo by Caio Christofoli

This post is inspired by the fans of the Carolina Panthers and tailored just for you! Luke Keuchly is a great linebacker. In seven NFL seasons for the Carolina Panthers, he demonstrated his athleticism and team spirit on the field year in and year out. His accomplishments are many and above all, his outstanding sportsmanship has earned him great respect and admiration by teammates and adversaries alike.

While not everyone is a fan of football, anyone can be a fan of good decisions. Deciding to let go of something we cherish can be hard, and many times life makes the choice for us. Consciously choosing our next step takes courage!

At 28 years old, Luke Keuchly is retiring (watch his heart-wide-open retirement statement here). He was a player so dedicated that he literally did little else other than prepare for games. Football has been his entire focus of his adult life to this point. And while leaving the game that he loves so dearly was the last thing that he wanted to do, he knew in his heart that it was the best thing he could do. Sometimes the mark of a good decision is that we’d rather keep doing what we want, and yet we change course to do what we know is best.

How does this apply to each of us? We all face Moments of Choice every day. Big life decisions are not every day, but deciding what to do with the precious minute in front of us can be a major choice too.

A friend, Lauren, relayed this story to me. She boarded the crowded train, as she does every weekday morning on her commute to work. She sat down in one of a few open seats, put her headphones on, and closed her eyes. One stop later she felt someone take the seat next to her, the last open seat. They were seated shoulder to shoulder. The woman next to her was crying. Not just crying, sobbing. As they rode on she could feel the woman’s body shaking against her. She felt annoyed, her quiet moments of relaxation before work were now spoiled. She tried to pull away but there was no room for personal space on the over-crowded train. Trapped with nowhere to go, she dreaded the long ride ahead.

Lauren reached into her purse and pulled out her pack of tissues. Taking her headphones off, she held out a fresh tissue to her neighbor and said, “Are you ok?”

That moment, more than a year ago, was an unplanned meeting between two strangers. Today, they are great friends because Lauren pulled out a tissue. They meet routinely for dinner and enjoy each other’s company. Lauren could have just as easily passed up that moment of choice. She could have stood in the aisle and put the headphones on, leaving that woman alone. But she didn’t. She harnessed the power of the Moment.

We never know what the next Moment of Choice will reveal to us. Be on the lookout for it and be ready to make the most of it!