Choose Who You Want to Be

Have you ever noticed that some food for the deepest thought comes from the simplest of places? 

I got my insight from a simple quote from one of my favourite animated films, The Iron Giant (1999). A boy finds a massive metal man that, unbeknownst to the boy, is programmed to change to a very destructive weapon when it is threatened. When the boy found out, he ran up to the giant and, with the giant’s enormous gun pointed at the boy, the boy pleaded with him to stop. “You are who you choose to be. Choose.”

Each one of us is programmed for different things. For some, it’s irritation, for others it’s is a programming for anxiety. For me it’s fear. Experiences lead to beliefs, often unconscious beliefs, that influence behaviour, thinking and feeling; the programming for “being me”. But are my experiences and beliefs “me”? Do I have to let my programming run me? Do I have to let the hurt and fear from my past dictate who I am today? 

A friend of mine recently revealed to me, “I wish that every morning I could just press a button and be the person I choose to be.” I replied, “Why can’t you?”

Here’s to conquering Stress,
The Stress Experts