Girl’s choice

So there is this dance at the institute for Valentine’s day. I’m all for vetoing it because that holiday sucks in my opinion, but fortunately it’s not up to me because they decided to make it a girl’s choice dance. However even though it is a girl’s choice dance they (the women) have made a huge deal out of it. In one ward the relief society president told the girls that it was a boy’s choice dance and has advised the girls not to ask anybody out. In other wards they have said it is a girl’s choice, but they guys can ask too if they want (which is a convenient cop out for the ladies if you ask me). I just think it is hilarious because girls complain about guys not asking girls out, then when they’re given the chance they chicken out. Silly girls, they’re giving you the chance to ask out whoever you want. Stop being so chicken! We have to do it all the time.

I thought about this as I was talking to a friend. Life is kind of like this situation. You see a lot of people sit around waiting to be asked out. Life is a series of events to them, basically a bunch of stuff happens to them and that’s life. Metaphorically speaking some people look at life as like a girl waiting to be asked out. They have no control over it, things happen for them or they don’t. But the thing about life is it isn’t a girl’s or a boy’s choice dance, we all get to ask out whoever the heck we want. We don’t have to wait for things to happen we can go out there and do something. Life is not a series of events we have no control over, life is a series of our own choices (or lack thereof) and the consequences that follow.

I believe that most people (I realize there are exceptions) can choose to be happy. It’s not always easy and it often means you have to choose to make huge changes in your life, but you can be happy if you choose to be. Choosing to be happy is not always easy, it usually involves making big and sometimes scary decisions. But that’s what we’re here to do, life is all about agency and we get to make choices for ourselves every day. Sometimes it’s little choices like choosing to have a good attitude at work, even if it is … well work. Sometimes it’s choosing to be patient with a friend who needs to talk to someone. Heck it could even be just choosing to have a day to ourselves to relax. The point is that we have to make choices that make us happy, not just in the moment but in the overall long run.

So there you have it, agency. It’s amazing isn’t it? I mean when you really think about what it means it’s amazing. So whether it’s a girl’s choice or boy’s choice just remember that you don’t have to sit around waiting, if you want to go out with someone just ask them. As for me, I’m vetoing the whole damn thing and having a boy’s night out.