High Heel or Birkenstock?

If you’ve seen Barbie, the movie,

you know the choice she made. 

(If you haven’t seen it yet and have seen Matrix, think: Blue or Red Pill?)

Isn’t it always about our choices?  No matter your role, title, gender, age, education, politics, religion – no matter the memberships you claim – our choices make the difference in the quality of our life, in the quality of our relationships.  Our choices — even the ones we’d like to think we had no choice in making — are ours and ours alone.  Perhaps it’s the alone aspect that makes some choices seem harder, more difficult to make than others, especially those that threaten the memberships that provide us with belonging and identity.

Hard choices … Choosing to learn a new skill knowing you’ll feel, and be seen, as a beginner and not a got-it-all-together professional … Choosing to apologize to the team who knows what happened not just to the person you misjudged … Choosing to walk away from a group and not laugh at a deeply offensive joke … Choosing to walk away from what others advise you not to… Choosing to stand for yourself no matter the consequences.

If we are fortunate, we have a Weird Barbie who encourages our Stereotypical Barbie selves to make choices that expand what’s possible for us.

A powerful question might be Where do you think from to make the choices you make?   From the status quo which feels stifling or from a commitment that’s challenging it? From what lights you up or what keeps you small?

The opportunity is to make choices today that the person you aspire to be will thank you for.

Whatever your choice, own it. You can always make a new one.

PS: Shout out to the Weird Barbies who saw beyond my Stereotypical Barbie self and encouraged me to make choices that expanded possibilities for my life.