Decisions, Decisions
On the way home from work yesterday, several thought processes collided with each other and produced a rather interesting result I thought I would share. The first thoughts were on my current class. We are discussing decision-making and all the of the work that goes in to making decisions in business. The second thoughts were on the fact that it was now November, and wondering where this year has gone.That got me to thinking about all the decisions I have made this year, and wondering what life would be like if I had made them differently. Would I be more happy? Less? Would I have made the same friends?
We spend our days making decisions of one sort or another. We decide to get up when the alarm goes off (or not). We decide what to wear, what route to take in to work. We decide to speed up or hit the brakes. We decide what to eat for breakfast, what order we do our work in. In fact, I can't think of a single time in the day when we aren't making a decision of one sort or another, most, admittedly, very minor. But a decision implies a choice of some sort. To make a decision means you are taking one path over another. But what lies down that unwalked path?
Life probably wouldn't be much different when it comes to the minor decisions, like hitting snooze one more time. These don't have a huge impact on the direction our lives take. But some decisions have a profound effect. At this time last year, I was just learning that my old magazine was being sold. I still didn't know I wouldn't be going with it. I didn't know who the new owner would be. I assumed I would be living in Jacksonville, FL, in my house, for at least the next several years. But all that changed. I didn't get along with the new owner, and we decided to part ways. That was a big decision for me. Then I had to make the very difficult decision to accept a job in N.Y., thousands of miles away from everything and everyone I have ever known. How would my life be different if I hadn't taken this job? I had another offer in Orlando I choose not to take, despite the fact that it was at "home". But if I had made that decision, I would still be in Florida, I would never have met all the great friends I now have up here. I wouldn't have gone to Germany, or have seen and done all the exciting things this past year held for me. My life would be completely different from what it is right now.
We can never go back and change the past, and to be honest I don't want to. But I must admit to a burning curiosity that will never be filled about what life COULD have held if I had simply choosen B instead of A.
I don't think you can walk around worried about decisions and the impact they make, as that would paralyze you from acting, and perversly, the decision not to act is still a decision. I don't have many regrets in life, since I always try to make the best decision I can at the time, and if it is wrong, I don't dwell on it -- I do my best to fix it and move on. All we can really do I guess is decide to live life as best we can, and hope for the best.
posted by Toni @ 11:23 AM
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