Choices

"There are always two choices, two paths to take.

One is easy. And its only reward is that it's easy."

- Anonymous

A fairly simple quote, but it arrested me yesterday with the reminder that everything comes down to a choice--sometimes it's black and white, right over wrong, good vs. bad. But I find that more often it's the better over the acceptable, or even the decent over the pathetic. Which rings of the saying the Apostle Paul quoted from his day, "Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial."

As I think about the way I spend the minutes and hours of my day, I realize how much I could change for good simply by choosing the "better" in any given moment, but at the same time I am appalled by how frequently I talk myself out of it and settle for the acceptable, or even the pathetic. I am reminded that half-hearted trust is really distrust, and half-hearted devotion is a step away from apathy. If I were fully convinced that something was better, even if it proved harder, would I be so remiss in chasing after it?