i think i do choose, yes, and perhaps just as important, to what degree they are in my life.
some of the choices are conscious, some may be subconscious or unconscious,
some may even be choices that i am not consciously aware of but that some part of me has made or is making...
but i think we attract people into our lives either by conscious choice or by energetic choice,
and we do so for all kinds of reasons; some we can see and know and easily understand
and some are more subtle, and perhaps harder to understand.
what i can do consciously is chose where to relegate the people who come into my life.
i can seat them in the front row, the middle seats, or way the heck up in the balcony...
i choose to seat people in the front row who i respect,
and peole in the balcony who maybe i havent figured out why i have attracted them into my life yet...
its funny though, when i think about it,
because theyre always changing seats...

Absolutely! Choice is the byword of personal freedom.

I also trust my instincts as to who is right for me. I ignored that quiet innervoice once, and I paid for it!

as some of you know, one of the tenets by which i live is that your life is completely created by the people you choose to have around you.

i choose very consciously now. i want only people who support me in being the best person i can be. i have a no drama rule, and weed out drama addicts as quickly as possible.

and for my friends and lovers, my rule is that you need to be more interesting to be around than i am when i am by myself -- and i love love love hanging out by myself.

my checklist is: optimistic, working on being a better person and makine a contribution to the world, really funny, thinks *i'm* funny (i look for people who find my particular combination of wise woman and silly dork to be hilarious), responsible for themselves, can be counted on to do what they say, and, well, just someone who i am proud to count among my friends.

that's only a few people, but they're so rewarding to know, and make my life rock more every day.

i choose the people in my life by assessing how they impact my life and how i feel when i am around them.
it is really simple to me. as for those that we cannot escape easily--such as co-workers or family (to a degree)-- i just remind myself to breathe and never let anyone wreck my happy....

i do believe i actively choose the people in my life...the way i figure it, someone else (or several someone elses) is (are) probably out there somewhere waiting for me to joyously release these people to be appreciated for whatever i am not digging about them.

"How do you choose who is in your life?"

I pay attention to them and feed the interaction. People who aren't fed continue on with their life.

"Do you actively choose?"

People flow by me in life like water by a stone and usually go right on by, unless they feed the interaction between us or I feed the interaction between us. So, either I accept their offer, or they accept mine -- both cases are USUALLY conscious, but not always (more's the pity).

I actively choose some; and some I have let slip by that I would have liked to have known more about.

I think I do chose but it isn't a particularly conscious choice. I sense that a particular person might be interesting or have some good things to say and I'll make more of an effort to connect. And others that say "we should get together sometime" that I tend to just ignore. So, somewhere, there's processing going on but I couldn't tell you what it is.

Having read this thread, however, I think I might have to change that.

Edward and Melissa, together, have a good approach -- figure out who is good for you, really, truly good for you, and then feed and nurture that relationship. Sounds like a great plan.