Each day we have a choice on how to handle the smallest of things. Over time, the choices add up to affect the rest of our family.

Do you stay up way past midnight to meet a work deadline and sacrifice your sleep?

Do you swallow your anger when you hear from an alcoholic parent who tries to pull you into their drama?

Do you take on more responsibility than needed because “someone has to do it”?

The choices we make each day can affect not only our own well-being but that of our family.

I’m guilty of pushing too hard to get work done. I’ll try to do it all: work, housework, raising the kids, and my writing. But then, I snap and either make a mistake or lose my temper over something small because the stress has become too great.

Small choices add up to big consequences. If we’re not taking care of ourselves, the detrimental effects will add up over time.

What would happen if we stopped and took more time out to think about the small choices? To stop and each a healthy lunch instead of grabbing fast food on the go? Or focusing on our kids’ well-being, but not our own?

The small choices that affect us each day are all about boundary setting. If we do not make the decision to protect ourselves, then we set ourselves up for misery and failure.

As a kid, my mom used to read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein to me. The story is simple: a young boy keeps going back to a tree and asking for help. The tree gives everything it has until the tree is nothing but a stump, and even then, the tree lets the boy (who is now an old man) sit on the stump. The Giving Tree was written 50 years ago and today I see the story not as one of unconditional love but one of enmeshment and a perfect example of the lack of boundaries. When I read the book now, I see that the young boy in the book is selfish and he only asks of the tree. He never gives back in return. Small decision over years leads to the tree’s destruction.

What would happen if you said no to something today?

The small choice you make today could mean a life-saving decision for the future.

Think about it.

Like what you’ve read? Be sure to check out my other posts in my Let Go and Be Free blog.