Friday, March 11, 2011

Making a choice is not a choice

My rant for the day.... every day people make choices, large and small. Some of the choices we make can change our lives drastically while others do not. There are also choices that people do not cognitively make that can be the most disasterous. These are typically fear based choices. When the outcome is uncertain or unchartered territory, people often refuse to move forward because they are afraid of making the wrong decision. What many fail to realize is that by not moving forward, you are choosing to continue to live with your previous decision that put you where you are in the present. Faced with that fact, many people would deny that they are happy with the previous decision, but fear keeps them from making any further choices that would be "risky" as well. You can postpone making a choice but to put it off indefinately would mean that you are choosing to remain stagnant. If you are happy with where you are now, or what is going on, or how things are working, then that is not a bad thing, but if you are refusing to make a choice because you are afraid to fail or that it will be a bad decision, then its time to rethink the origional choice that created these circumstances. Do you agree with that choice? If not, then its time to put your big girl panties on and choose to move forward to something new.

Making decisions and choices can be difficult, sometimes painfully so, yet it must be done for personal growth to occur. Another trap people fall into is educating themselves out of choosing to move forward. GUILTY!!! If it comes into my life, I research it. I want to know everything about it, how it works, what it does, the benefits, the detriments, and short and long term effects. Researching is a good thing but I have (numerous times) educated myself to the point where weighing the pros and cons took the place of common sense and instinct. "If I do this...then that will happen, but if I do that....then this will happen." It can start a viscious cycle of comparing the various avenues of choice.

Thankfully, I have learned to do my research because its something I need to do, make the comparisons I need to make, and then wait for a few days....and take that time to simplify things, use some common sense and determine what my gut instinct tells me. Then I can make a choice based upon all the information I have plus what makes the most logical sense to me and works with my instincts. Of course I don't do this with every choice I make or I would never wear clothes! lol. But for the bigger decisions that I feel will make an impact on myself or my family, I have discovered a method to making choices and decisions that works for me.

Only you can choose for you!

1 comment:

  1. Randi, are you talking about me? I could almost cry right now! Bad timing on your rant...LOL

    We are so different, yet the same in a lot of ways. You like to research and process, I could care less about the details I'm a shoot from the gut kind of girl and I truly think God uses and needs both kinds in this world.

    I have some areas in my life where I am definitely not putting on "my big girl panties" and most of my friends know it. I've tried your avenue....educating myself to justify my actions.......but what I find is I am trying to get my heart to follow my mind, rather than my mind following my heart or gut, whichever you want to refer to the deep down feeling you know you have when something isn't right.

    I am in the midst of living in indecision.....I call it confusion......but you called my bluff.....its plain indecision. I've been here awhile, I've actually gotten quite comfortable here....LOL I could live a long time in "indecision" convincing myself I'm content.

    What I do know that God is the only person that has the answer, and he does not create confusion.....leading to indecision. If I seek to him for answers then I must be PATIENT and wait for him to tell me.....NOT MY STRONG SUIT....as I've talked about in my blog. So I'm going to take what you said, and what I said to heart today, not let it rock my world but store it in my heart so that I can remember it when the confusion seems overwhelming, I can remember that everything happens in Gods divine timing. Well family calls....gotta run!

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