The choice we all get to make

l tripped over last week.

Not a small “lost my balance and stumbled” sort of trip. Like a big, cartwheeling, scene-causing, ass-over-head fall.

I was walking through North Sydney, on the hunt for a coffee. The rain was hammering down around me and I was in a hurry.

Earlier, I’d been at the Today Show talking about my new book for kids, Good Selfie, and I had a full day of events and interviews planned. So, I was in a good mood. I was excited to be talking about the book, and I felt pretty cool because I was wearing this sick new outfit, I’d just met The Wiggles and I had my hair and makeup done. You know, all the important stuff ?.

So there I am, hustling down the street when my new sneakers, dazzling white and about as slippery as a buttered balloon, slide through a rivulet of rainwater and I go F-L-Y-I-N-G.

No joke, I think I flipped about twice before landing smack on my back, a bit winded, with a huge graze on my knee.

I was absolutely mortified.

Several people rushed to my aid and helped me up and, feeling super rattled, I started to cry.

But I looked over at my colleague Grace, who had been walking with me, and saw that she was doubled over in hysterical laughter.

She was laughing so much she could barely get the words “Are you OK?” out of her mouth without snorting.

So, I had a choice to make.

I could either cry, and feel embarrassed and let it put a dampener on my day, or I could laugh it off.

I chose to laugh.
I cleaned myself up. I got my coffee and I went on with my day.

So, why tell you this mildly embarrassing story?

Because I want to say this: while bad, annoying, frustrating and embarrassing things will happen to us from time to time, we always have a choice in how we react, yeah?

From the small stuff, like tripping over on the street, to the bigger stuff – we get to choose how we want to respond. 

In last week’s case, the choice was pretty easy to make.
I wanted to feel better and there was an easy strategy to help me do that – I could laugh it off with Grace.

But it doesn’t really matter HOW I chose to respond – what matters is that I have the choice in the first place.

Choosing the response that makes you feel better, uplifted, happier – that’s ideal. And sometimes you just have to make that choice. You know, you might have a client meeting, or a day out with your kids planned – you might just have to choose to turn it around.

But sometimes it can be really refreshing to say to yourself “You know what, today is really crappy, and I’m not going to try and turn it around. I’m just going to accept it, and know that tomorrow will probably be better.”

That’s something I talk about a lot in Good Selfie.

There’s this expectation that every day we’re gonna be super happy and super energised and super motivated, and that if we don’t feel that way there must be something wrong with us.

But I think that’s just a part of life. 

Just as we have experiences that are awesome, fascinating and extraordinary, we have experiences that are boring, draining and crappy.

So, next time things don’t go as planned at work, or something crappy happens, (or you go flying through the rainy streets of North Sydney) know that you have a choice in how you respond.

Whatever choice you make – either to make yourself feel better, or to wallow a bit – is OK. Either option is fine! But know that you get to make that choice.

I think that’s a really empowering thing to realise.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this – so sound off in the comments on the blog.

I’d be stoked to hear your take!
Turia x

PS – I’m going LIVE on Instagram next Monday night at 7:30pm.

I’ll be chatting all things confidence and sharing some of my fave strategies and stories from Good Selfie. So, if you have questions you’d like me to answer about how to build more confidence and self-esteem, hit reply and ask me! I’ll pick a few to answer live on Monday.

And, if you’ve got kids or teens, this will be a perfect opportunity to tune in together. See you then!