Many years ago, I attended a seminar given by Caroline Myss in Los Angeles, CA.  During the course of the seminar, one young man raised his hand and asked a question. It seems he was confused, not yet knowing what to do with his life and facing a variety of job offers and opportunities. But he was stuck because he had no idea which one to take.  He listed them off, one by one, there were five total.  He asked Caroline what he should do, how could he possibly know which one would be the right one, the best one, when he wasn’t even sure of his direction.

Her answer still plays in my mind today as she replied to his question. “It doesn’t matter WHAT you choose, just choose SOMETHING.  Make a decision, just choose one and do it.”  She went on to say that through the act of making a decision, a purposeful choice, he would begin to see what he wanted and that choosing any one of those opportunities would eventually lead him to the place he is meant to be.  She finished by saying, “You have until 12:00 noon tomorrow to decide.”

His question resonated with me because I too have found myself in that place many times throughout my life, asking, “What should I do?”  “Which choice is the right one?” And there began the battle between heart and mind.  There have been many times when I didn’t know, so I didn’t choose, and unfortunately, that inability to decide made my choices for me.

How many times have we decided to just wait and see what happens?  Isn’t that just another way of not making a decision? If so, it’s not a very good way of going about it. Like the band Rush says beautifully in their song, Freewill, “If you choose not too decide you still have made a choice.” Without making a decision, we are powerless to manifest what we truly want and lose confidence and belief in ourselves in the process.

So here’s a suggestion to try the next time you need to make a decision and you’re not sure how to make it.  Realize that it’s not about making the “right” or the “wrong” choice, it’s about deciding what experience you want to have.  Be sure to bring your heart into the decision making process and see what it wants.  We get so caught up in making the “right” choice that we lose touch with the experiential nature of life itself and therefore miss out on the ability to allow our heart and intuition to play a role in the decision making process.

Is it time for you to make a decision about something?  If there were no right or wrong choices, what experience would you choose to have right now? Which experience would make your heart happy?

I’d like to share a personal family story since it’s almost Independence Day here in the states.  The reason for this story is two-fold; first, it’s a story about an American flag and second, because it’s a great example of how the power of choice and determination can change your life.

My grandmother Zabel, and her mother Varter were both 100% Armenian on my father’s side of the family.  Born in the United States, my Grandmother traveled back to Armenia with Varter to visit family twice when she was a child. My Grandmother was only 10 years old when they went back for a second visit in 1914.  This was during the time of the Armenian massacres and though they were American citizens, they were still Armenian.  Trying to flee the massacres, they were traveling through the desert from Harpoot to Constantinople where her Uncle, an Archbishop resided. With them were 7 others, including nieces and nephews on her father’s side, and a couple of family friends. On their way, a band of Turkish soldiers stopped them and threatened to kill them.  But sewn to their covered wagon was a small American flag. In that instant, Varter showed them the flag and yelled out, “You see that flag! If I don’t go back the American’s are gonna come and get you, they’re gonna retaliate!” She fought and argued with them, she stood her ground, she didn’t stop and it worked. They were released and made their way to Constantinople to safety.  Eventually, they made it back to the States and never returned again to Armenia, while others were never heard from again. Throughout her life, my grandmother repeatedly said that it was an absolute miracle that the Turks ever let them go, a miracle from God.

Two months ago, my father gave me the actual flag that was sewn to that covered wagon, and the photograph of that flag is shown here for this article.  When I held it, the first thought that came to my mind was, “My goodness, without this little flag, I wouldn’t be here today.”  And it inspired me to share the story. Through my great-Grandmothers determination and wisdom to have even carried the flag with her to Armenia, she changed the lives of everyone on that wagon, and therefore, the lives of generations to come.

We have no idea the reaching affects of our decisions, or the affects of how one determined action can change an entire outcome.  Therefore, we must choose wisely, because what we choose determines our fate.  What chooses us, determines our destiny.

You see, Bambi is my real name. It is a name that my mother chose for me when she was five years old, twenty three years before I would ever be born.  She had gone to see the Disney classic Bambi* when it came out in 1942, and when the film was over, she decided that if she ever had a daughter, she would name her Bambi.  And she did, with my father’s full support. This is one of the blessings of being born to entertainers; they are intrinsically creative, especially with names though the name Bambi is also taken from the Italian word bambina or bambino, meaning baby or little child.

My mother is an extraordinary woman. She spent her childhood training herself how to dance and do acrobats, which eventually led her to New York where she lived her dream of dancing on Broadway. She was determined to do what she loved.  She was exceptionally talented and continued dancing until moving to California to eventually marry my father.  Once here, she put all of her passion and love into her family, while still staying connected to the entertainment industry through various shows and local functions.

I was the first born, which earned me the youthful promise she made to herself at five.  Throughout my life, I have been teased about my name.  It never really bothered me because I was proud to wear the gift my mother gave me. For someone to name you after something that touched their heart so deeply is an honor.  But I certainly have dealt with my share of recurring comments such as, “Where’s Thumper” or, “Do you want to play in the forest?”  And I still get, “Have you ever seen Bambi meets Godzilla?” But overall, all I can do is smile.  After all, this IS my name. And, I get just as many compliments about it as I do giggles.

As I look back throughout the years, I realize that something else happened along the way. Though I did, and still do receive the comments, the occasional odd looks as well as the teasing, the fact is that it has strengthened me in ways I could not have foreseen.  Because people did not always take me seriously, or gave me a hard time about the perceived profession of a girl named Bambi, I had to work my way up through the ranks of corporate America to prove myself in business and show that I am much more than a name.  This eventually led me to become a founding member and Chief Operating Officer of a multi-million dollar hair beauty brand in North America and recently I started my own business as a Law of Attraction Life Coach and Business Consultant.

The biggest reward, however, came as I learned who I am as a person, and what is most important to me.  And that is to be authentically myself, and proud of it.

* The film was based on Bambi: A Life in the Woods, written in 1926 by Felix Salten (pen name of the Austrian novelist, journalist, and theater critic, Siegmund Salzmann), and published in the United States in 1928.