I try to take some time to meditate every morning. Most mornings I don’t do this well because I rush to get to work. However, when I do get time, I like to use the app Headspace as my guide.

This particular morning I was on day nine of the app’s appreciation pack. Near the end of the exercise, the guide asks you to ask yourself the question, “Who or What do you appreciate the most in your life right now?”

You’re supposed to ask yourself the question and then just note the responses that you give to it. Normally when I go through this part of the exercise, the response is about how I appreciate my job, my dogs, my friends, and my family.

But today was different. Today the answer I received when I asked the question was me.

Now, I have written extensively about narcissism. While I believe that self-esteem is very important and useful, I often find many people have a distorted view of their own lives.

So I dove deeper. I asked, “what part of me do I appreciate most in my life right now.”

The response was autonomy.

It felt like a breakthrough because I realized I was closing in on an ideal I feel is important. Namely, if you have to make a decision in life, and your response to it is anything other than “HELL YEAH!” It should be no. I got this from Derek Sivers. However, I also really like Mark Manson’s piece about it. It is a very useful lens with which to look at large decisions like accepting a job, moving across the country, etc.

Life is too short to be doing things you are not fully enthused about. You do substandard work when you’re not 100% engaged, and that is a disservice to you and anyone else involved.

It feels good to know I have the power to change my life, that the control of my own destiny is mostly in my own hands. Obviously, if we end up in WWIII, I have to play the hand I am dealt. But I can choose to move to Florida. I can choose to grow a beard. I have autonomy.

I think that is something to be very appreciative of.

Tony Robbins often says that the path to a better life comes from the quality of questions you are asking yourself.

So I’m curious to know, what questions are you asking?