The Last Word

By Ethan Des Fountain | Posted: Tuesday June 25, 2024

Every single day, from the moment we wake up and until we go to bed, we make countless choices.

A quick google search showed that we make roughly 35,000 of them a day. Some are small and seemingly insignificant, like what to eat for breakfast or what clothes to wear. Others are bigger and have the potential to shape our futures, like choosing our mates, deciding how to spend our time, or how hard we work towards our goals.

It’s easy to sit there and think that our circumstances define us, but the truth is, it’s our choices that make us who we are. Every choice you make, no matter how small, contributes to the person you become. And while we can’t always control what happens to us, we can always control how we respond.

Think about a situation where you faced a difficult choice. Maybe it was deciding to finish off that internal you’ve been procrastinating on for weeks or to hang out with mates. It is these moments that your choices reflect your values, your priorities, and your character.

I had to make a difficult choice at one point in my life. To attend Otago Boys’ High School or Logan Park. In retrospect it's hard to not realise how easy of a choice it truly was, but at the time it wasn’t so clear. I ended up being one of three boys that came here from my previous school, so it’s interesting to think about the person I would have become if I had chosen a different path.

Making the right choices isn’t always easy. It requires courage, perseverance, and sometimes the willingness to go against the grain. So, it's important to listen to your inner voice and make choices that align with your true self, not just what’s popular or easy.

Because remember you, yes you, the young man sitting in the seat in front of me, listening or not, have the power to choose your actions, and reactions. So as you go about your day, be mindful of the choices you make. Think about the long term impact of those choices and how they align with who you want to be.

In true Otago Boys’ fashion, I'll leave you with a quote. 

‘Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make, makes you.’  John C. Maxwell.