Saturday, June 20, 2015

Abilities and Choices

You and I have a lot of abilities.  What an understatement.  However, let’s pursue this for a moment.

Pardon this personal reference.  I have the unique ability to impress certain people with some measure of my abilities in a variety of ways.  That is a good thing mostly.  I’m all about ability and how one demonstrates one’s abilities to a given task.

On the other hand, my abilities come to the front only when I make good choices in actions, words, follow-through and a whole host of other soft skills that come into play. 

In the movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, we find this:


“It’s not our abilities that show 
what we truly are; it is our choices.”

I’ve written a bit about the power of “choice” in these posts.  That is still a great topic and an important topic.  Our choices live long after we have left this earth.

I think John Steinbeck gives us a clear distinction for this idea of choice.


“But the Hebrew word, 
the word ‘timshel’ – 
Thou mayest – that gives a choice.  
It might be the most important word 
in the world.  That says the way is open.  
That throws it right back on a man.  
For if ‘Thou mayest” – it is also true 
that “Thou mayest not.”
~John Steinbeck – East of Eden


You see, choices mean “yes” and sometimes choices mean “no”.

And we hold it in our hands to choose which response to offer.


P Michael Biggs
Offering Hope
Encouragement Inspiration
One Word at a Time


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