My many moments of small revelations, present themselves lately while I am on the bus – and yesterday morning was no exception.
I had started thinking about all the decisions I have made in my life so far and how they have influenced and affected me and my outlook on the world.
If you have ever seen the movie “The Butterfly Effect” will agree how well it presents the notion of “every action has a reaction”. Perhaps this reaction is direct or indirect. Every decision affects you or those around you or a strange or all of the above in one way or another. Sometimes for the best and sometimes not. If one really had to analysis every decision one makes, I think that would in itself drive you straight up to the gates of the loony bin.
But I guess one of lifes many lessons (I think this Life Lesson List belongs in a Mary Poppins bag because it becomes never ending!) is that instead of analysing why you made a decision, you should focus on what you learnt from that decision.
I think that through every decision we have something to learn. Learn about ourselves and/or others.
That is all well and good if you feel you have made the right decision, but a whole different ball game if you feel you made the wrong decision. Yet, in saying that, one could argue that who is to say what is “right” and “wrong”. What is sauce for the goose is not always sauce for the gander.
Many things influence the decisions we make as well, like your friends, family, circumstances, values, morals, consequences etc etc. So when faced with a difficult decision, how do you know what to weigh up against what.
Now often I have these mental debates in my head. Sometimes they are quiet and civil, other times it is like a waging war going on. When the verdict is in, I am left with two options. Either I emerge with a winning verdict or I am left feeling like a prisoner of my own convictions.
The latter is the one that we struggle to come to terms with and accept. But I reckon that even in these sad times, we can either come out reformed and safe in the knowledge that we have lived with the consequences of our own actions and have learnt the lesson entailed. Or we continue to look to the past for answers, instead of focusing on the future and to where our decisions have brought us on our life’s path.
Its hard to know where to look for answers. I feel that if you trust your own self enough, those answers will never be far away. Sometimes our lessons are not so obvious and it takes time to finally see the light, so to speak.
I like to believe that everything happens for a reason. How cliché that is, but how so very true. Change happens. And we change. Sometimes I feel I push others to hard for this acceptance of change, but I know that everyone in their own time. Change is neither good nor bad, it is just change. It is the attitude towards these changes that ultimately determines how we allow it to affect us.
So decisions and change…how they add to the trials and tribulations of our lives.
But these trials and tribulations are what makes us stronger. They are a part of life. A part of us. We cant escape them, else we would not be able to learn our lessons and move forward.
So have faith in others, but most of all have faith in yourself because every ones journey is unique and extraordinary.
I will leave you with a few quotes:
“A peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one.” ~Rita Mae Brown
“Life is the sum of all your choices.” ~Albert Camus
“The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.” ~David Russell
“It doesn't matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions.” ~Jim Rohn
“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” ~Confucius
“We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.” ~Kahlil Gibran
“Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Love and Happy Decision Making
Orangeblossom xxx
