Life seems like a challenge some days and a major struggle others. Challenge after challenge comes our way and we feel more stressed than ever. What can we do to change this experience and struggle less?

Even if life throws us curves regularly, we don't have to struggle. Something can be different. It can be different because we have a choice. We make choices every day, from the second we get out of bed... we choose to have a good day or a bad day, to be happy or grumpy, to be calm or frazzled. We choose every moment of our lives.

Do you believe we can make a choice? Do you relate to the idea that in every situation, we choose our response? Just being aware that we can respond in various ways gives us a choice. Knowing that, even though the boss has demanded a report by 5pm today, we still have the opportunity to choose whether we enjoy the process or hate it. We have the opportunity to create a situation that benefits us or causes more stress and struggle in our lives. We may even resist making a choice at all, letting life randomly happen to us rather than taking control of our lives.

It is important to use the mind as a tool to adapt to change and find the good in every circumstance. We can find the bad or good in any single thing, person or situation. It is all based on where we focus our attention. If we focus on what is bad, we only see what is bad. If we focus on what is good, we only see what is good.

There are truly two choices: we either resist the situation or person and find the whole experience rather stressful and forced... or we accept the situation and find the opportunity in it. It really is that simple, either reject or accept any given event and our response creates the result. Once we accept the situation we have an opportunity to move further in this direction and utilize the situation to benefit ourselves and others.

To explore this idea, let's use the example of a car accident. I slide on the icy surface right in to the rear end of the vehicle in front of me. Bang! The front of my car is smashed. Now, I choose my response. I can reject the situation and stay stuck, asking "why did this have to happen to me". Or I can accept the accident for what it is, one of life's unexpected situations. Once I accept the situation, I can also utilize what has occurred. I might learn more about my car and how the insurance process works. I will likely meet new people. I also gain the opportunity to demonstrate my ability to be positive and calm through a stressful process.

Remember, struggle is optional. Any situation may not be ideal from what we had envisioned for our day, but we still have a choice to enjoy the experience or not, to struggle or not. We create the result. It is based on our response to each and every event in our lives. We always have a choice... in every moment. Let's make the choice to accept the situation and inspire others with our response. Let's make empowering choices that help us live our lives as the people we want to be. Then we will be responding in the way we want rather than reacting to events as they occur. Our choices create our reality.

About the Author: Gina Sebastian is the Create Your Life Expert. She does training and coaching to Create Your Life! instead of just letting life happen to you. Gina, through her company On-Purpose Training, specializes in helping business women in overwhelm create their dream life. For more info visit: www.onpurposetraining.ca.