Life is filled with options, priorities and decisions. It is steeped in trade-offs, right? Enjoying one recipe often costs a few pounds in the wrong place. One poor choice can cost financial breakdown or birth a happy occasion. Some options cause grief, some take a person on a road less travelled, and some cause the death of spirit, mind and soul.

Summer is for enjoying the sunshine, beaches, camping, sitting on the back deck watching the bird feeder, or so we can tell ourselves. So what’s the trade-off? Lawns don’t get cut, flowerbeds fill up with weeds, bank accounts deplete and there are no fresh biscuits in the breadbox.

I returned from a week’s camping – and to tell the truth, while away, I didn’t once think of the consequences of the warm sun with lots of rain on my flowerbeds. So I had to make a choice this morning, pull weeds or see how I’d look as a couch potato. Choice-priority-option.

Some people don’t want choice; others have given choice away while there are those that mental and physical conditions have robbed choice from them. All of these factors cause grief. How do we grieve for ourselves? How do we give self care in times of grief.

Might I suggest, being faithful to our own needs that give our health first priority? What is healthy about grieving for self? It keeps us from making poor choices, adding poor decisions to already toxic situations and sinking into depression and damaging trade-offs.

Maybe as you sit on the balcony, deck or back step, think about the power of choice and look for new ways to guard it carefully.