What Decisions Are You Making?
Decisions are an important element for moving life forward.
As Pathwalking involves choosing direction for one’s life, an absolutely necessary element of any choice is decision making.
Making decisions can be terrifying for people. Why? Because many of us tend to overthink. We second guess, fear that if we choose wrong we, or someone we care about, might suffer. Or we might possibly miss out on something better.
Deciding can be intimidating because it feels final. The finality of the notion can be daunting, and cause the opposite of the desired outcome. I know that for me, on more than one occasion, my indecision cost me far more than a decision would have.
Often we encounter obstacles along the paths we choose in this life. Frequently, these are totally of our own making. We get so caught up in things like the “hows” and the “what ifs” and the “buts”, and worrying about potential consequences as such, that we do not decide. Instead, we flounder, we worry and stress, but we don’t achieve.
Before I began blogging regularly, I kept journals. I cannot tell you how many of my journal entries discuss being at a crossroads of some sort in my life, multiple choices I should select from, and worries about what I should do. It would be great if I could report that this led to much decision making, but in truth it didn’t. There were long periods of my life spent in one form of indecision or other.
No decisions were made in regards to job opportunities or career paths. I let more than one relationship slip through my fingers because I couldn’t decide to commit or no. Rather than make any choices, I chose to not act, and aspects of life would pass me by.
Decisions are not irreversible.
Nearly every decision we can make is not permanent. Sure, there are exceptions to that, but for the most part decisions can be changed. Or, if we cannot change them, we can decide to make a different choice at some time or other.
I think it is important here for me to interject something about my past indecision. I do not regret the choices I have made, or not, along the way. Even when I chose poorly, or did not choose at all, this molded me into the person I am today. Even the worst experiences I have ever had, I would not take them back for any alternative life. Everyone has a perfectly imperfect life. All of us have failures and successes, make good and bad decisions, gain and lose people throughout our lives.
The key aspect of all of our experiences is to learn from them. What do we take away from the things that happen to us? What do you learn from a decision you made, or did not make? How did the choices made in our youth shape us into the people we are now? Have you grown from the experiences, or repeated them over and over again, expecting a different result?
When we decide, we choose. A choice takes us down a given path, and sets us in motion. Rather than let life live you, and allow your subconscious to do the driving, you take control. That is how decision works. Deciding is turning the key and starting the engine.
Any engine, once started, can be stopped again. Like this metaphor, a decision can be stopped, changed, restarted, abandoned or started anew. With a few given exceptions, no decision is so permanent that you can’t stop and start with a new choice.
Decision is nothing to fear.
One of the reasons I didn’t make certain decisions along the way was fears they would bring up. I was afraid that I might miss out on something else, or that my decision would be bad and cause suffering, or that a given choice might bring failure or success. I didn’t recognize this for fear much of the time, but that is exactly what it was.
We are only human. Some decisions can feel terrifying. What if this relationship doesn’t work out and we hurt the kids? Maybe this job will make me miserable. How will I pay my bills without a standard income stream? All of these questions arise from decisions we make, and our emotions can tie us up in knots with little effort.
Far more often than we realize, the fear of consequences regarding choices and decisions is worse than the actual result. When something unexpected occurs, our minds may wander off to worst-case scenarios or other concerns and fears. Decisions can lead to this as well, but often the negative and worrisome sense we get is far worse than what occurs.
In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho’s Alchemist says, “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.” By this same token, the fear of deciding is worse than any consequences of the decision itself. Making decisions does not have to be scary. In fact, it can be quite the opposite. It can be utterly freeing.
When you decide, you have made a choice. Choices will set us in motion along a given path. A choice is a matter of freedom, because we have a thing we are doing. A plan is in motion, and we are in action rather than letting inaction hold us back.
Making a decision is a win.
Consciousness creates reality. When we decide on something, we take charge of our consciousness, and we become a creator. It is through decision and choice that we manifest anything we desire to make manifest. This is how we build the best life we can for ourselves.
Decisions are only as challenging as we allow them to be. But the end result will take us to more places than we might be able to imagine in our present reality.
What decisions are you making along your paths?
This is the three-hundred twenty-second entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas for, and my personal experiences with, walking along the path of life. I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share.
The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available here.
After more than 6 years of Pathwalking, I have launched a Patreon to garner support for these works, and more.
