This morning, I heard this Jackson Browne classic called The Fuse that was the perfect prelude to an interview I had with Beth Long who is the editor of Doylestown Hospital’s news letter. She and I had last had a sit down conversation right before Thanksgiving. The topic back then was my feeling of gratitude that I had experienced a heart attack, since it turned my life around in as yet unimaginable ways. Today, as I approach the one year ‘cardio-versary’ on June 12th, she wanted to do a follow up to see how I was progressing.

What came to me so powerfully is that I make conscious choices each day about my heart health. It isn’t just about diet and fitness routines, although I do adhere to them. It is more connected with the emotional heart stuff that had me offering care for others when I wanted it myself. It is about deciding how and with whom I will invest my time and energy. Instead of doing things because I am expected to, I do them when they serve me as well. Ongoing self sacrifice can be depleting.

One of my favorite lines from the song I referenced is “Forget what life used to be. You are what you choose to be.” It is another way of saying that your history is not your destiny. We are always presented with options to consider. I am no longer on auto pilot. I ask myself sometimes moment by moment, what it is I want to do and how it will be of benefit to myself and those I encounter.

Are you living from the past? Do you see yourself as being simply a product of your experiences, rather than your conscious choices of which way to turn on the path on which you are walking?

“It’s whatever it is you see that life will become.”