The Choice: STORIES OF LIFE, LOVE, AND LEARNING

By Delina Fajardo and and eleven others

Eleven stories of ordinary people choosing extraordinary lives.

We are all born with an extraordinary gift, the gift of choice, but so many of us either don’t see it or use it nearly enough. We choose from what’s in front of us, which is not always the best thing, even if it’s a good thing. We “choose” through

• Language: English
• Publisher: Purpose Now
• Release date: Oct 25, 2018
• ISBN: 9781946875150

Delina Fajardo

DELINA FAJARDO is a best-selling author, certified professional coach, entrepreneur and motivational speaker. After 15 years as a physician’s assistant   she realized she was betraying herself of passion     in exchange for “success,” and made a personal breakthrough  by  “unlearning” limiting  beliefs and societal conditioning. She now lives a life of purpose, aware of who she really is and how to contribute  back. Her “no fluff ” but loving teaching style gives you what is needed for your personal and professional transformation.

Book preview

Prologue ~ Change the World by Brad Hart

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You are about to change the world.

That's right, not me: you.

You may not believe me. You may not agree with me. You may think you're not able to do such a thing.

Just keep reading.

See, it's my purpose and mission to teach you the practical skills you need to fulfill this deepest desire inside you.

It's a gift that God gave you. Like your beautiful body, complete with sight, taste, touch, hearing and smell.

You didn't have to earn it.

You didn't have to negotiate or compete for it.

You were given it for a purpose.

Because God is a creator.

Because we are all creatures of God.

In fact, we are all part of this energetic reality that we call God!

And like God, who made us in His image, we are all creators.

We create on purpose. We create unintentionally.

We are never not creating something.

We are never not making the future.

The past is simply the sum of all the choices we've made thus far. The future is being made in this magical moment, now, when all things happen and always will happen.

They do NOT happen tomorrow or yesterday, they happen NOW.

Tomorrow and yesterday are just a collective perception we've all decided to agree on.

They are not real.

NOW is real.

This is not a rehash of some self-help book. This is not a spiritual treatise.

This is not about saving the manatees.

It's not about saving the world either. It doesn't need or want to be saved, least of all from us.

It's about creating the future. It's about making the future consciously and with forethought, not accidentally, unintentionally, or because of some limited belief that you cling to for dear life because you are afraid.

It's about stepping up.

It's about being a leader.

It's about taking that spark. The one we all have that calls all human beings to step up and embody the potential that God gave each one of us.

The power to create, as He created us.

The power to choose the future. And look forward to it.

I'm calling you out.

You're playing small.

You're not alone.

Most people do. And they get small results and little to no impact on the world as a result.

They live, they shuffle some sand around in this great big infinite sandbox, and they die.

After their friends and family pass on, no one misses them. No one writes about them, sings their memory, shares their light.

They fade into obscurity as quickly as they came.

They die with their best inside them.

They squander their greatness.

Not you. Not today. Not if you're reading this book.

If you're holding this book in your hand, that means you took a chance. On me. On a friend who recommended it. On Amazon reviews. It doesn't matter.

But whatever the reason it wasn't a coincidence. You're holding this book because it begged to come out of me.

And I answered that call.

Whatever the reason, you took a chance. I am grateful for your trust

I will not let you down.

Prepare to make the future now.

Prepare to step into your greatness and make an impact.

Prepare to take your life, your work, your finances and your fulfillment to the next level.

Prepare to do what you were meant to and create what you were meant to. To share your beautiful gifts from time infinite with the here and now.

Are you ready?

Turn the pages now and let's get to it.

Contents

Prologue ~ Change the World by Brad Hart

Contents

Introduction

[ 1 ] Light Me Up by Brad Hart

[ 2 ] Beyond Your Craft by Yuri Cataldo

[ 3 ] The Underdog by Brenda Fairchild

[ 4 ] Trail of Breadcrumbs by Phill Ash

[ 5 ] A Shift in Life by Anton Liberopoulis

[ 6 ] Bridging the Gap by Chad Crowell

[ 7 ] Living in Awe by Marion Ejan

[ 8 ] First Wakeups by Ryan Charaba

[ 9 ] Choose Joy! by Gretchen Stewart

[ 10 ] Greener Acres by Jason Graciano

[ 11 ] As My Heart Sings by Delina Fajardo

Conclusion

About The Choice

About the Authors

About the Writer

Introduction

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Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

—CONFUCIUS

Choice is the most basic unit of freewill. Freewill is a potential, a limited human right, a vital component of sanity and happiness, and choice is how that potential manifests in the universe we share. Some choices are easy to see—those that are announced or arrived at verbally, and others are (almost) silent, appearing like the birth of an electron, known only at first to the beholder. But whether bold and brash or silent and small, the birth of a choice is a fundamental determinant of things to come, for one life and at times for millions. How important is choice? People are instinctively willing to die for it.

There are breakthroughs in thought in this book. One is that as life moves around us we react, defaulting to our training, experience, calculations for survival, our hopes and goals and purposes, and according to the subliminal blueprint we copied from our examples growing up and otherwise, but within that moment where we normally react and default to preset patterns—some of us with empowering ones and others otherwise—is an opportunity for a choice. We can choose our perspectives—it’s part of the magic of our psyche, of our spirituality—and sometimes we can simply start enjoying that chosen perspective, and sometimes we have to work at it for a while. Whole categories of study have been devoted to revealing, changing, and at times breaking those patterns.

Another breakthrough is what choices seem to work out so well. In many of the personal stories that follow, the author had financial success, but lacked fulfillment. The Choice shows how choosing to live for others as well as yourself leads not only to greater purpose, fulfillment, and happiness, but even, they would argue, continued and sometimes improved financial success. And sometimes it’s simply a trade-off well worth making.

It’s realizing you have a choice, even when it seems you don’t; that choices, not luck, lead to extraordinary living; and choosing to live for others as well as yourself leads to fulfillment and greater success.

There are evidences all over American life that we are learning to live better, to include each other more, to focus on what’s important and to recognize and eschew useless or harmful pretenses. Going into debt for the prestige of conspicuous consumption and how it leads to stress, financial hardship, divorce, toxic households, squandered time which could have been spent with family and friends, and even a weakening of the country has been exposed. Look at the popularity of speakers and mentors of financial savvy and the tiny house movement, for examples. Look at the survey which revealed the number one regret of people on their deathbeds was working too much. If only they could go back and spend more time, have more experiences with the ones they loved.

Across most if not all religions, in the depths of human nature, and as one of the most basic of self-evident truths, we have a birthright in the universal and innate ability to choose. Precious. Powerful. Beautiful. Yet we all, at one time or another, and to one degree or another, neglect this magical human capacity. The people in this book who are about to share their stories vary in walks of life, age, sex, race, even creed and philosophy, but they all have at least a few important things in common: They all, in one way or another, lead extraordinary lives, and they all, as you will see, value fulfillment, purpose, love, and the care of others along with personal financial and professional success—I would go as far as to say they each have discovered they do better for themselves only and perhaps in proportion to how and when they do for others as well. That was one of the most profound epiphanies for me, as the person compiling and writing their stories.

They each chose to do something in life that lights them up, and as a result, others light up, too.

[ 1 ] Light Me Up by Brad Hart

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It's practically impossible to look at a penguin and feel angry.

—Joe Moore

The Back Story

When I was two years old my father worked for a lumber company. He’d drive a truck every day delivering lumber all over Long Island. One day, coming down a hill, the shipment in the back of the truck came forward through the cab and pinned him against the steering wheel, rupturing a disc in his spine. He was rendered unable to walk for the next six months, crawling around on a mechanic’s creeper, and during this time it became clear that even if he could walk again, my mother would need to get a job, one that could really support us. My grandparents had money, but they didn’t support us, so we were on our own. So, growing up, it was kind of hand to mouth. It was what Mom could provide, which was very basic, plus social security and disability checks. She went off to work in the City (Manhattan) and I stayed at home with my dad on Long Island.

My dad’s version of parenting was Get yourself up for school, so I had to be very self-sufficient, very independent. I was an only child and he typically didn’t get up until noon. But if I was late for the bus he’d be pissed. His idea of parenting was that every two weeks we would go to the store and make sure there were enough TV dinners and soda in the refrigerator, so we didn’t have a whole lot of extra stuff. If I wanted anything extra, I would go out, knock on doors, and mow lawns for $20 each, which was my first entrepreneurial experience. I then got a job at a local restaurant my grandparents frequented, working as a bus boy. I eventually got a job at a shooting range where I taught people how to shoot skeet, and I did other jobs. I was a plumber’s apprentice for a little while, I worked on an ambulance when I was in school, I worked a couple of years as an EMT, but I never really had money, growing up.

I realized no amount of money was ever going to replace what I truly valued and cared about, which was relationships.

Yet the only time I realized we were poor was