Choice

Choice is NOT free will. Free will is often confused with the function of choice. In fact, there is no such thing as free will, because free will is the freedom to exercise one’s will in any circumstance. No one ever actually has this capacity due to the fact that one’s freedom ends where another being begins.

However, in all circumstances, we DO have the ability to choose, even when we don’t. In other words, we are always able to choose and always able to act on the choice, but we are not always able to choose as we might wish. We may feel as though circumstances force our movement and although this may be true, it is also true that we always lead ourselves to the destination we arrive at.

Even then, we simply must choose again and keep repeating this process until our choice matches our circumstances. Choice is the only freedom we truly have, even when it is mitigated by the influence of others – which it usually is, because others also share this same freedom.

This is like water streams and the rocks that shape them: The water flows through the rocks shaping the stone and the stone shapes the flow of water. Each modifies the other. This is the same for us as we interact with others and our environment. Choice is the never ending moment of shaping.