Choosing is like breathing. You do it – indeed, you must do it – all day, every day.

Whether waking or sleeping, whether deliberately or habitually, whether in matters big or small, you live by continuously choosing. You are always choosing – what to do next, what to do now, what to do if, what to do when.

And just like breathing, your choosing can become so routine and so automatic that you may not be certain how or why it works. You may not understand how or why it sometimes fails to serve you well.

These ten things you need to know are ABCs of choosing.

Learn these ten things, remember these ten things, and you can breathe easier, secure in knowledge that you have a better understanding of how and why your choosing works, and of how and why it sometimes fails to serve you well.

When you know these ten essential things about choosing, you become better at weighing your options in every situation. You become more efficient and more effective in all of your choosing, deliberate and habitual, big and small. Your choosing gets better and better.

Here are essential messages of ten things you need to know about choosing:

1.You can only interpret what you can perceive – choosing requires both.

2.You perceive consciously and non-consciously – choosing requires both.

3.You interpret logically and non-logically – choosing requires both.

4.You choose what’s possible to make what is – choosing changes both.

5.Risk and reward are two sides of same coin – choosing engages both.

6.You put some time, energy and attention into every choice – big or small.

7.You delay choosing when you focus on perceiving.

8.You hasten choosing when you focus on interpreting.

9.You allot your time, energy and attention to choosing according to risk and reward that you perceive and interpret.

10.You cultivate habitual choosing to free up time, energy and attention for higher stakes choosing.

That is essence of ten things you need to know about choosing. Each message is explored here in a little more detail, and explained in a little more depth.

Each message is also countered with a caveat – a cautionary pointer to consequences of heeding message without proverbial grain of salt. 1.There are two sides to every story.

The story of choosing has two sides – perceiving and interpreting.

To choose well, you must always consider each side of story independent of other. You must consider whole story, of course, and yet you must always have clear distinctions between what you perceive and what you interpret. The classic example of different witnesses describing different versions of an event illustrates roles of perceiving and interpreting. The witnesses all perceive exactly same thing; it is only when they interpret that different versions arise.

The caveat: The line between perceiving and interpreting can be very thin, and very flexible. You can easily mistake one for other.

The essential message: You can only interpret what you can perceive – choosing requires both.

2.The story of perceiving has two sides – what is and what’s possible.

To choose well, you must always consider what is that is relevant to situation and meaningful for you. You must also consider what’s possible that is relevant to situation and meaningful for you.

You perceive what is through your physical body – your direct experience of world around you. This is linear world of apparent cause and effect, sometimes called immanent reality, and your physical body can perceive this world fully, accurately and consciously.

You perceive what’s possible through your intuitive “body” – your experience of latent world, sometimes called transcendent reality. Your intuitive “body” can perceive this world fully, accurately and non-consciously.

The caveat: Your beliefs, preferences and habits may limit your capacity to perceive fully and accurately. You can perceive fully and accurately, both consciously and non-consciously. You may, for example, prefer your direct experience of immanent world to your experience of latent world. You may prefer your five common senses to body’s deeper perception of what is. You may prefer one or two of your five common senses over others.

The essential message: You perceive consciously and non-consciously – choosing requires both.

3.The story of interpreting has two sides – what you think and what you feel.

To choose well, you must always consider thoughts that you generate in response to your perception of what is and what’s possible. You must also consider feelings that you generate in response to your perception.

You interpret logically when you apply your mental awareness and intelligence – your thinking – to consider meaning and relevance of what you perceive.

You interpret non-logically when you apply your emotional awareness and intelligence – your feelings – to consider meaning and relevance of what you perceive.

The caveat: Your interpreting ability is designed to process full and accurate perception. When you limit your full and accurate perception, you may generate plausible and false perceptions to fill in blanks.

Another caveat: You may generate thoughts in response to your feelings, and you may generate feelings in response to your thoughts. You generate your first thoughts and feelings in response to your perception of what is and what’s possible – you may generate later thoughts and feelings in response to your immediate interpretation.

The essential message: You interpret logically and non-logically – choosing requires both.

4.Every choice affects both what is and what’s possible.

Choosing is a creative act, generating change in both immanent and latent worlds.

Several people have written to me asking for help in understanding how Law of Attraction is at work when something as serious as tsunami in Asia occurs. If you are wondering same thing, then this article may help you understand AND keep your own vibration high and clear.

First, listen for stories of people who escaped or survived tsunami. While majority of news reports will focus on death and destruction, if you are listening for positive, you'll hear about people who missed their flight to Asia, due to a snow storm in New England. You'll hear about people who decided to tour ancient ruins in highlands. People will tell how their lives were saved despite being caught in flood. Many people will wonder why they were NOT caught in tsunami--that's Law of Attraction at work.