Just Decide

I read an excellent piece by Jill Donovan yesterday, discussing decision making when the answers just don’t seem particularly clear. She gave an example of her daughter trying to choose between two colleges, that she had been accepted to attend. Her daughter did the tried and true “Pros/Cons” and “Advantages/Disadvantages” lists about her decision, and yet the answer was still not completely clear to her. Jill wrote this:

“This is because life’s complexities cannot always be simplified into tidy lists of advantages and disadvantages. If every decision could be made so effortlessly, our lives would lack the vibrant tapestry of experiences that provide us the opportunity to rely fully on and deepen our trust in God.” 

We get so many conflicting messages about how to make decisions. “The mind can play tricks on you.” “Trust your gut.” “Feelings are not facts.” We get so caught up in trying to find the “perfect answer”, that we forget that very often, more than just one path can lead us to our destination. There isn’t necessarily just one, ‘right’ decision. And even if we get off course, the ever-patient Universe has a way of guiding us back to where we need to be, when we willingly surrender to the Great Compass inside of us.

When making decisions it is best to use our analytical minds, but also to listen to the sensations in our bodies. Holiday Mathis recently reminded her readers of this wise tome: “How you feel around someone is as important as how you feel about them.” We can love, and admire, and be totally charmed by different characters in our life, who are really not particularly healthy for us to have relationships with, in our daily lives. I remember many, many years ago, my sister-in-law was deciding between two men whom she was dating. She told me that the first guy looked “great on paper”. He checked all the right boxes. But the other guy, just felt great to be with, like the perfect “glove-in-hand” fit.” Spoiler alert: My sister-in-law is happily married to, and has spent many adventures with (including raising two sons and living in Australia for a few years) the “perfect fit” guy, for a few decades now.

When making a decision, using the mind, and creating plus/minus checklists can be very helpful and wise. Feeling what decision most resonates with our guts, and which decision feels most peaceful and “right” to our Inner Compass, is also important to pay attention to, and to figure into the decision. However, in the end, if the answer is still not entirely clear, it is best to make a decision and move on, with a deep faith that Greater Forces will gently steer us, and keep us “on track” to the lessons, epiphanies, experiences and destinations that are meant for each of our individual lives.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Decide and Move On

I’ve been noticing a phenomenon in myself and others a lot lately. We make a decision or we place a boundary, but then we explain our decision ad nauseum, to anyone who is listening range. We extol on why our decision was “right” or necessary, but by doing that, it seems to take away from the confidence of our decision/boundary. Sometimes we harangue so much about our situation, that it makes me wonder if we would be better off never making the decision or boundary to begin with, because the situation is obviously still eating us up, and taking up a lot of our time, peace, and mindspace.

When I was younger I was better about making a decision and putting the rest of it in the rearview mirror. I had confidence in myself that no matter what I decided, I would be able to handle the outcome, and be better for it. When I was younger, I better understood that there are no “perfect” solutions and most problems can be solved in many different ways. I didn’t need the 100 percent approval rate, that I sometimes think that I am vying for now.

I think that it’s odd that the confidence in my decision making has abated a bit in me. I suppose that youthful optimism, energy, and carefreeness wanes with time and experience. But that’s a shame, because I’m older now and there’s a lot less time to waste. My whole life has been a series of daily decisions that have worked out quite nicely for me. And even when I have gotten off track, I’ve used my decision making skills to get back on the best leg of my journey going forward. It’s best to make a decision and roll with it. If it ends up being a poor decision, more decisions can be made to move forward in a different direction. Lamenting a decision just keeps one stuck in neutral.

“Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the decision right.”– Phil McGraw  

You cannot make progress without making decisions.” Jim Rohn

“Life is filled with difficult decisions, and winners are those who make them.”– Dan Brown 

“A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.”– Anthony Robbins

“Don’t mourn over your bad decisions. Just start overcoming them with good ones.”– Joyce Meyer

“When possible make the decisions now, even if action is in the future. A revised decision usually is better than one reached at the last moment.”– William B. Given

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Coin Flip

A great tip I learned a while ago is that when you are struggling with a really big decision, a really mammoth decision that just has you all tied up in knots and you don’t know what to do, you should just flip a coin.  Really, just flip a coin.

Now if that sounds ridiculous, let me explain.  You don’t make the decision based on how the coin lands.  You base your decision on what you are secretly hoping the result will be while the coin is still up in the air.  That moment will tell you the most about your strongest inner longings about the decision.  That very moment of hope gets you out of the analytical, calculating thinking mind and really to the very heart of things for you.

Try it.  It works a lot of the time.  And if it ends up being a bad decision, you can always just blame the coin.  Heads or tails?