for (change=0; change < sizeof(perfect); change++) { if (!function_exists("my_choice", perfect[change])) continue; }

He: Sounds disturbingly familiar.
Me: It doesn't have to be that way. It is a choice.
He: Everything in life comes down to a choice, darling. Each breath, each step is a choice, and paths change and wind.
Me: Yes. But most people don't understand that both viscerally and intellectually. It is usually one way or the other way.
He: And so you chose not to become another blind woman in a land of blinded?
Me: We are all blind, in our own ways. We see what we wish to see. The world is what we make it: Paradise or Hell. Thoughts and attitudes are THE causal and creative forces in Life.
He: Yes... and even in Paradise there is discontent.
Me: Discontent is a source of change. Perfection is stagnant. It is dead. It produces nothing but sameness... And I strive for perfection, because the emotional child in me fears change. I want it to be my choice ;)
He: Ding! Ahhh students thats the bell.. Todays lesson in Philosophical Barriers to Self-fullfillment will continue tomorrow. In the meantime I want a 3 page paper on pages 321 - 344 of your text by Monday.
Me: Imp.
He: Wench.
Me: I deserved that ;)

[an hour later]

Me: I made the title of my latest blog entry what seems to be the function I am running in my life. *grin*
Amicus animi: Heh. Sounds like a lovely discussion. I don't agree with him that everything comes down to a choice. At least not a conscious choice. And certainly not a choice where one has the freedom to choose.
Me: We still have the choice as far as how we react.
Amicus animi: That's an observation without engagement. It doesn't consider the properties of the situation. And saying that regardless of the properties and circumstances, you always have a choice, then perhaps so, but then it's a rather moot point.
Me: The lesson is that control of anything outside the self is an illusion. Everything is uncertain. The only thing we have control of is how we choose to react.
Amicus animi: I've said so, too, but that is an illusion as well.
Me: Indeed, but it is a comforting one ;)
Amicus animi: But what if you don't know which choice to pick? Or even identify the choices.
Me: It is a veritable quandary. We make the best choices we have on the information available. We choose, and we accept the consequences of those choices. Or not. Regardless, consequences happen, and thereafter, we have the choice over how we react to other consequences.
Me: Illustration: I chose to leave home. Was it the best choice? I lived, my abuse stopped. I thought my sister was safe because my father had never abused her before, she was his favorite. But he did. I made a choice. I have had to accept the consequences of that choice. And I have had the choice as to how I react to those consequences.
Amicus animi: *nods*
Me: Is it an illusion, the choice of reaction? I don’t know. Perhaps it is the only thing that is real.
Amicus animi: Yes, if that's the level you're talking about, choices exist.
Me: Yes, that is what I am talking about... but, that is where it begins. The reality we create with our intra-personal choices resonates with the external reality, I think, perhaps like pebbles dropped in a pond. If we take personal responsibility for our choices, their consequences, and our reactions to those consequences, then that practice will become a paradigm for how we react to the greater issues in the world at large.
Me: Perhaps I am showing my Romantic rather than Pragmatic side in this ;)
Amicus animi: I try to keep things practical. Make it through next week, or something like that.
Me: Heh. *kiss* You do help keep my feet on the ground.