We get to choose.

In 2011, the Syrian civil war erupted. Awad's family watched armed men enter their textile manufacturing warehouses and take over their family business. They handed over the keys and surrendered their generational wealth at gunpoint. In the following weeks, as the violence escalated, they were forced to flee their home or be killed.

They didn't choose to be refugees in Jordan, where they first fled, or America, where they now live. They were forced to seek refuge in another land. According to the UNHCR, a refugee is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country."

Awad is a refugee.

I am not a refugee.

You are most likely not a refugee.

We sleep safely in our homes, voluntarily work each day, and won't be killed for freely driving wherever we want.

We get to choose.

We're not forced.

I take my refuge for granted.

Can you recall a time when you were forced to do something involuntary? How did you feel?

What voluntary decisions do you make each day and possibly take for granted?