Choices

Do you ever wonder why we make the choices we do? I totally question my own on a daily basis. Sometimes I am flummoxed as to what ever compelled me to make this decision or that. How we walk around in the world, the choices we make, reveal us. Sometimes we think, well, I had no choice, which is absolutely untrue. There is always a choice. It’s just that one of the them may be too horrible to consider. For example, if you were at the top of a tall mountain and wanted to get down to the bottom, you would have two options. You could jump down, most likely dying in the process, or walk down. The only sane choice, of course, is walking down.

I often feel like I am, metaphorically, jumping off the cliff. I don’t look before I leap, I simply jump out into the unknown, spread my arms and believe I can fly. And, here’s the magical mystery I find in that—often I do fly. Some spur of the moment choice or decision turns out extremely well, and I find myself soaring. The other side of the mystery is, at times, I do a complete face plant onto the ground.

So, here’s my question. Are the impulses that cause us to make certain choices, our intuition? How much, ‘thinking it through,’ is required? Is spontaneity preferable to making a chart of pros and cons, and weighing everything to the point that we’re dizzy and overwhelmed? Most would say, it’s probably a balance between the two. I would agree with that in theory. That, in itself, is a choice—trying to walk a line between impulse and more slowly reasoned actions.

Since I fall more towards the impulsive side, I find myself having the most difficulty trying to stop and ‘think things through.’ I’ve become a little better at it, but marginally. LOL

But, when I take that face plant because I leapt too soon, I simply think about the daily choices I make that are good. The parts of me that are consistent. I work hard to choose kindness above all else. My desire to treat others well, with dignity and respect, is always my first choice. Today’s world is chaotic and anger filled at the moment. The way we approach those around us has greater impact than we realize.

So, what choices did you make today? Is it a face-plant day, or did you soar? I’d love to hear about it.

Ciao for now.