I’m usually always the first one to have something inspiring and thought provoking to say about any particular subject. But it might come as a surprise to you to learn that I currently find myself somewhat unable to formulate anything profound into words.
The subject is making decisions.
I’m not talking about what to have for lunch or what color shirt to buy at the store. No, I’m talking about decisions that will have a direct, long-lasting impact on every facet of your life. I hate those decisions because far too often you just never know if you’re making the right one – continually second guessing yourself even after a decision has been made.
It’s odd, but I feel like the older I get the harder it is to confidently make choices and be satisfied with the results. Maybe it’s because with age comes the realization that time in NOT infinite and our opportunities to rectify the unsuccessful choices we’ve made is greatly reduced.
Difficult decisions can mentally cripple you into wanting to make no decision at all, thus sparing yourself the fear that comes along with committing to something that is unknown. And while refusing to choose is in fact a decision, it will do little to advance your life in any way, shape or form.
Deepak Chopra authored the book entitled, The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life. In it he has this to say about making decisions:
“If you obsess over whether you are making the right decision, you are basically assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing and punish you for another.
The universe has no fixed agenda. Once you make any decision, it works around that decision. There is no right or wrong, only a series of possibilities that shift with each thought, feeling, and action that you experience.”
It’s in his words that I think I just might have found some inspiration. “There is no right or wrong, only a series of possibilities…” I suppose it’s easy for us to place such a great deal of importance on the decisions we make, but in reality they really are nothing more than possibilities. Nothing is perfect and every decision we make will have its own challenges and discoveries to face as time goes on – we’d be naïve to think they don’t.
No one can make choices for us. But instead of looking upon them as stressors in life, we need to see them as possibilities – showing our appreciation that we’ve been given so many opportunities to make our lives better.
