There’s a simple truth I keep coming back to: every moment is a choice.
We don’t get to decide which moments will be perfect and which will be tragic. Life has a way of handing us both; sometimes in the same week, sometimes in the same breath. What we do get to decide though, is how those moments shape us. Our choices can turn devastating losses into surprising gifts. They turn the caterpillar into the butterfly. Every experience shapes who we are becoming and what foundation we stand on tomorrow.
I’ve started thinking of it like a filing cabinet of Life. Every experience, every decision, every conversation that we open ourselves to gets filed away. Not all files are easy to keep. Some are thick with heartbreak, others are filled with joy, and many are somewhere in between. All together, they give us depth.
And that depth matters.
Depth Builds Connection
The more drawers we fill, the more room we have for empathy, understanding, and grace. When we’ve faced our own obstacles, we are less quick to judge someone else for theirs. When we’ve taken risks – some that worked out and some that didn’t – we become more patient with those who are still deciding if they’ll leap.
This is why I believe our True Compass is rooted in experience. It’s not just values written on paper or abstract ideas about who we want to be. It’s the real, lived filing cabinet of our choices that shapes how we show up. It’s what makes us someone others can trust, lean on, and follow.
Awareness Comes Through Experience
Awareness doesn’t just appear one day. It’s cultivated, file by file, experience by experience. When we open ourselves up and stop limiting what we allow in, to become more vulnerable; we start to see differently. To think differently. Those shifts ripple into every future decision.
That’s why the small daily choices matter so much. The “micro” actions of taking a class, saying yes to a trip, or daring to try something new… even if it doesn’t work out the way we imagined, it adds a new layer of awareness. Over time, those small choices add up to profound change.
Manifesting Through Alignment
Some people call it coincidence. I’ve come to believe it’s alignment. When we consistently file away moments that align with who we want to be — choosing kindness, accountability, resilience, curiosity — we start to notice opportunities that match. It’s like the physical world bends slightly toward the thoughts and goals we’ve been cultivating.
No, we can’t script life into perfection. But by being intentional, we can create more moments of joy, connection, and meaning.
What Are You Filling Your Cabinet With?
At the end of the day, the question isn’t whether life will hand you easy moments or difficult ones. It will hand you both. The real question is:
What are you choosing to file away?
Are you collecting experiences that expand your foundation, deepen your awareness, and build your resilience? Are you choosing to see risk as a teacher and presence as a gift?
One of the most beautiful things about life is that every moment is a choice, and every choice is a chance to become something new.
Closing Thought
Take the class. Take the trip. Take the chance. Even if it doesn’t go perfectly, the lessons you learn may one day be the very foundation you lean on — or the story you tell that inspires someone else’s story. Your filing cabinet is waiting. What will you fill it with?
Authentic Evolution Journey 