Free Will

Free will is a powerful thing.
We can choose to love, we can choose to hate,
To look left or right, to eat this, to reject that,
To justify our reasons, our actions, our lives, our feelings.

But can we choose to feel?

Can I say 'I want to feel happy' and lo, behold! I am feeling happy?
Perhaps the choice lies not so much in the what but in the how...
Not what I feel, but
How I respond to it.
Not what I see, but
How I choose to perceive it.
And what I choose to do about it.

But why the human need to justify, to
Defend, to explain these choices?
As a wise person once said, our good natures are here at fault.
For were we not good,
Our wrongs would need no sugar coating.
Were we not kind,
Our injustices need no explaining away, no
Defending, no searching for approval, even
Within ourselves.

Thus we all have the choice to be
Something more than what we were,
To look deep inside and
Act on that which unites us all,
To freely choose to be what we are,
Feel what we feel, and
Do what we can to illuminate the
Darkness within ourselves and the world.

And to ask for help when we need it, for there is no shame in
Letting love in.
In fact, being lovable is a choice,
And one of the greatest gifts we have to offer.
In a closed-off world, love would never survive,
It is only through open hearts and minds that we
Connect to others, and allow them to connect to us.

Too often, we shut these doors
Out of fear, uncertainty, or self-protection.
We can and should protect ourselves --any such choice is justifiable--
But true courage involves taking chances and at times
Risking the unknown.
A loving world is not merely the sum of its people,
But rather the quality and strength of the relations
Between these people. Open hearts create
Limitless possibilities and a more beautiful, complete world...