Last week we left off with Callie, the young woman at the beginning of her adult life who discovered that she had choices.

She wasn’t ready for marriage or the responsibility of raising a child. The father of the baby wanted to marry but didn’t want to work. Callie struggled with drinking and substance abuse and was fighting with God. She didn’t have her head on straight.

Callie left the office, pregnancy confirmed and armed with the word “choices”. She’d seen a glimpse of her future and it wasn’t close to what she wanted.  On the bus ride home, she decided that it wasn’t too late to take her life back. Instead of letting life happen to her, she would take charge, stand up for herself and she made a radical choice.

At that time, normal meant that a girl “in trouble” should marry the father of their unborn child. However, Callie predicted that a man who didn’t work and wouldn’t pay the bills would be nothing but more heartache. She booted him out of her life and went through with the pregnancy. She placed the baby for adoption, stunning everyone.

Within a year, she’d moved to another state where she spent the next five years sorting through her life, getting straightened out and searching for silver linings. Even though she wept secretly (and not so secretly) for years about her child, she knew in her heart it had been for the best. Callie had given herself a second chance and a new life.

Every crossroad is another chance to choose positively. She married, had another child and they bought a home in a new city. She made considered changes and hard choices. Not everything she went after worked out well. Two marriages failed, she lost jobs, she invested and lost. People bowed out,  died and disappeared out of her life. She grieved the losses and moved on, refusing to let it consume her.

Although Callie endured considerable heartbreak, she found joy too. Life wasn’t always easy, but even bad times couldn’t last forever. When she felt overwhelmed, she mended the relationship with God and found a faith community. It wasn’t bullet proof but it gave her hope and strength and sustained her. She became a seeker of silver linings.

Callie didn’t attempt to end her life and she didn’t run away from her problems. Occasionally she met people who said it was easy for her to be upbeat because she’d never had a hard life. Sometimes, she’d share some of her story and tell about choosing to be happy.

Callie’s second child grew up, loving life, family, and friends; the child worked through school, graduated, married well and is raising two healthy, loving children.

Every choice affects your life. You ultimately decide to be bitter or better. Victim or victor. Passive of present. You are where you are right now because of the choices you’ve made. If you’re unhappy with your life, it’s time to make different choices. This is your shot. Only you can make it happen.

What will you choose?