You are Where You are Because You Decided to be There

The decisions we make everyday have a big impact on where we are in life, both spiritually and physically. Often these decisions are the 'safe' choices. People don't often venture too far off from familiar paths or too far out of their comfort zones and challenge themselves. As Aristotle the great Greek philosopher said, "Man perpetuates the familiar," and especially teens. The obvious reason not wanting to appear different than their friends. They are afraid of being teased or ostracized from their peer group if they venture too far. They rather let opportunities pass them by than be shunned by the group that helpes define them.

Teenagers do you find yourself in a rut? If so, be honest with yourself and determine why. Are your friends holding you back from venturing forth? Are you concerned about what they might say? If they are true friends they will be the first to encourage you, if they don't, ask yourself, then ask them why. The answer you arrive at should indicate to you whether they are a true friend. Odds are they will be encouraging and perhaps follow your lead. You will have then become a trend setter. Be bold and rise above the crowd. Start immediately. All progress starts but with a single step.

Parents help your teen with gentle encouragement. Perhaps post notes on their pillow or in their lunch bag. Let them know how much you believe in them. For more information on decision making visit www.lunchbagnotes.com.

Ann Marie Parisi is a senior at Cal Luteran University in Thousand Oaks, CA. She is also a published author.

MORE RESOURCES:

To find happiness, turn losses into wins - MSNBC

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Happiness in hockey - Morgan Hill Times

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Happiness flows through social networks - The Post-Standard - Syracuse.com

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The Foundations of Happiness - Senior Times

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Keys to happiness - Alton Telegraph

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Keys to happiness - GoErie.com

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Feeling blue? Good news - its the colour of happiness - Daily Mail

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Money troubles mask happiness - News-Leader.com

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-0fd=Rurl=http://www.news-leader.com/article/20090105/OPINIONS03/901050317/1006/OPINIONScid=0ei=ATZjSb66LpqO9QSO5-WUBAusg=AFQjCNF1B4YMcF9TMdJuiEyeh2vHkfNpBQMoney troubles mask bhappiness/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fNews-Leader.com,nbsp;MOnbsp;-/font nobrJan 5, 2009/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Growing up you always hear the old adage, quot;money can#39;t buy bhappiness/b,quot; but I can#39;t help but feel like that saying is quickly lost with childhood innocence. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Billy Graham: Lasting happiness comes from knowing God - Kansas City Star

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Achieving Happiness: Healthy New Year#39;s resolutions - Annapolis Capital

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Happiness - Google News

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