13 Choices for Happiness and High Self-esteem

13 CHOICES FOR HAPPINESS AND HIGH SELF-ESTEEM

13 CHOICES

FOR HAPPINESS AND HIGH SELF-ESTEEM

Spiritual

I choose to worship my Father in Heaven every day and live a Christ-centered life.

Physical

I choose to keep my body healthy and clean and avoid addictive substances at all times.

Mental

I choose to use my mind to create, explore the universe, and find my place in it.

Emotional

I choose to share my feelings kindly and honestly with others and strive to be peaceful.

Social

I choose to look at all people as equals and never judge or compare others to myself.

Psychological

I choose to accept full responsibility for all of my choices and never blame others.

Intellectual

I choose to educate myself on a daily basis so I’ll be useful to the betterment of society.

Organizational

I choose to work within the time frame I’m given without being stressed or rushed.

Environmental

I choose to keep my surroundings clean and beautiful and live in a house of order.

10.

Financial

I choose to enjoy my work, live frugally, and use my means to help other people.

11.

Recreational

I choose to only see and listen to those things that uplift and inspire the human mind.

12.

Ancestral

I choose to be the transitional figure in my family to free future generations from abuse.

13.

Moral

I choose to obey all of God’s commandments and love and honor each of His children.

Kristine Litster Fales

(Tape the 13 CHOICES by your bathroom mirror and read them each morning and night when you brush your teeth!)

THE STORY BEHIND THE 13 CHOICES

The "13 Choices for Happiness & High Self-esteem" first began when a 13-year-old teenage girl in a drug rehabilitation center in Massachusetts asked me these two questions, “Do you have high self-esteem? Can you tell me how to get it?”

I initially came up with five choices that she, and all individuals, have the power to make each day. I typed up these five choices, drew a little self-esteem chart, and shared this information with this sweet girl, my son Jonathan, and a few of the other teenagers in the program. They all told me that focusing on these choices every day helped them a lot!

When I developed this self-esteem program, I called each self-esteem principle a “choice.” I used the word “choice” because the teenagers who were living with us from the drug rehab seemed to be helplessly drifting through life not knowing how they could change. I wanted them to understand that the choices they made each day determined how they felt about themselves and what they could accomplish in life.

First, I wanted them to know which choices in life were ones that they could really make themselves. Second, I wanted them to learn how to make wise choices. Third, I wanted them to understand that if they made wise choices then they could then be more in control of their lives regardless of what was happening around them.

However, while trying to help other people with their self-esteem, I was frustrated with my own behavior. Over the next several years, I began analyzing my life and kept adding to the list of the choices I was making each day. I began to see which choices helped me feel better about myself and which choices caused me to feel worse. My list gradually grew from five choices to thirteen choices, which I knew I needed to focus on in my life. I printed a copy of these thirteen choices, taped it to my bathroom mirror, and read it every morning and night as I brushed my teeth.

As I read these choices, they became a part of my subconscious mind. Simply by reading them every day, I became more productive. The most surprising discovery was that I didn’t have to be perfect in any of these areas to gain high self-esteem. All I needed to do was desire to make these choices a part of my life and then do the best I could. My feelings about myself improved dramatically. Finally, I got it. Change happens gradually. Focus on correct principles, and let it happen.

My difficulty was that whenever I stopped reading these choices every day, I gradually reverted to my old patterns of behavior. This caused me a great deal of emotional distress, but I finally understood the problem—and found out the solution. God promised relief with the words: “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely (Hosea 14:4).” I had to be reminded of my self-esteem choices every day to feel consistently good about myself. As the scriptures teach: “Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways (Isaiah 58:2).”

Kristine Litster Fales