Choices

When this post goes out, it will be my 7 year wedding anniversary. Since I recently figured out how to create reels on Instagram, I thought maybe it would be fun to create something from the past 7 years. So this morning while I listened to a romantic playlist, I started scrolling through my phone, beginning with January 2014, the month we started dating.

I laughed and smiled as I reminisced on all the things we did. I remembered that time Andrew came home from work with a giant banana, and then a few weeks later when I woke up to all the bananas I had purchased from the grocery story laying on the ground, knives next to them, saluting to their giant ruler. I watched the video of Andrew and our good friend trying to get a hanger over their heads and down their bodies. It did not end well. 

As the song Once In A Lifetime played I thought about how I don’t really believe in a “once in a lifetime” love. I don’t believe there is only one perfect person for us. I don’t believe in soul mates or a perfect match. I do believe that I found someone who loves me enough to stick by me through the hard moments. Someone who loves me enough to take time to make the best moments. Someone that I love enough to choose over and over again.

In this life, when we think about a perfect version of anything - some fairy tale partner or job or life… we are setting ourselves up for a reality that doesn’t exist. We aim for the perfect Instagram reel not realizing all the ups and downs that happen on the road to those pictures. Life is not a lottery ticket we get to win, it’s a series of choices. I didn’t just choose to marry Andrew; I’ve chosen him every moment since. 

When you go out today, I hope you choose well. Choose love over anger; forgiveness over punishment; laughter and acceptance over stubbornness. Life is too short to choose anything else.