Your Daily Focus: Decisions

03.28.2011 · Posted in Quotes / Daily Focus

Every moment seems to offer a choice, don’t worry about it; imagine both choices are perfect!

Choice is constantly in front of us. We decide on a turkey or roast beef sandwich for lunch. We decide whether to park the car in the first spot we see, or head down the aisle hoping for a spot close to the mall entrance. We decide on reading a book or watching a movie, cleaning the kitchen or taking a nap, DSL or cable internet, buy some music or not, eat out or cook, etc.

So often during the decision process we agonize over fear of making the wrong choice. We worry about wanting something different later. We are either worried about spending the money, or being embarrassed about the result later. It’s as though we consider every decision a lifelong commitment.

What if it really doesn’t matter? Imagine both choices being perfect for us. Imagine a great outcome either way. Take the sandwich example. It’s not that much of a leap to decide on turkey, and know that you can always get roast beef next time, right? You can imagine how great it is knowing you have saved a great choice for the future.

Let’s take the parking spot at the mall example. We think what if we head down the aisle and there is not a spot, and then we are going to be disappointed and have to search longer? Then we have to stay committed to our decision and keep searching until we find a close one. Or, if we park immediately, what if we see a close spot walking in, then we will feel like we made the wrong choice.

I suggest you shift your attention from winning or losing to how you feel. If you feel like walking right now toward the mall, park immediately. If you feel like driving around a bit, search. If you don’t find the spot right away, enjoy the drive, and the cars and people you see. If you park and find a spot closer while walking in, imagine how great the person will feel who gets that spot. Imagine that they have a sore ankle and can really appreciate it, and that you helped them. You have shifted from right and wrong, winning and losing, to simply experiencing… much nicer energy.

Okay, that feels simple, right? Thinking differently about a sandwich or a parking spot fells within reach. Now imagine the “big” decisions in your life being the same. Imagine that you have been given two wonderful choices. Both are “correct” and you get the luxury of picking whatever feels best right in this moment, without any concern for the future. We really never are done, you know. We always get to decide again and again and again. It’s simply no big deal.

Pick what feels best right now, and focus on all the reasons what you like it. Fall completely into the positive aspects of the decision. You can do it, even with the big stuff… college or no college, move or don’t move, rent or buy, find a new job or not, new car or not, even turkey or roast beef. It’s really all the same.

Don’t take it all so seriously, and better yet, simply focus all your attention on the positive aspects of the choice, and enjoy it fully while you are experiencing it. You can always have the new enjoyment of choosing again, and again.

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7 Responses to “Your Daily Focus: Decisions”

  1. A choice can have a consequence that affects others. Selfish choices ……..consequences. Think of a person who is married and tempted to cheat…is choosing to cheat the perfect choice? Is choosing to abuse drugs the perfect choice? Is choosing to reach into the stove for a hot item with your bare hands a perfect choice? Is choosing to get behind the wheel when drunk the perfect choice? Is choosing to molest a child the perfect choice? Not all choices are perfect!! Choose wisely! Not all decisions are the same.

  2. Thanks for sharing, Jenni. I think you have written words that many who are reading might be thinking as well. And they are looking for answers to the same questions.
    I think you just showed us a perfect example of focusing on the negative. I know many a person who would say that some of your examples above led them to a much more wonderful life. And many who would not change those choices for anything. They feel as though they could never have been led to their greater life without the choice that led them in the directions above.
    At first glance, all of the above seem bad and wrong, but many who have experienced them would speak otherwise. Jenni, please try to shift your thoughts to the positive, and someday the examples above might never even enter your mind. Thanks again for sharing.

  3. Your posts often seem to be speaking directly to me, and this is the perfect example. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December, and have been happy with the care I have been receiving. However, I did decide to get a second opinion, which was slightly different than the care I was currently receiving. I now felt I had a life or death decision to make…which hospital should I choose? which place would provide the best care and best outcome? would I live a long life if I made the “wrong choice”? This decision over which hospital to go to was almost as stressful as the diagnosis of cancer. I even read a book called How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer to give me some scientific insight. Finally, a friend put it in perspective by telling me both hospitals were great, I would get wonderful care at either place, and that they both had my health and curing my cancer as their goal, so I couldn’t go wrong with either choice. I mulled it over for a couple weeks, talked to patients from both hospitals, did some searching on the internet, and eventually came to a decision I am happy with (I switched). But having a good friend tell me that this was not a life or death decision, and that either choice would be a wonderful choice, made a world of difference in my mental state!

  4. Thank you for sharing this Kim, it is deeply personal, and therefore really a great help to others. This definitely qualifies as a big decision, and it is wonderful to see that the same simple perspective applies. Congratulations on finding your way to a peaceful decision.

  5. Hammerton says:

    OH MY.I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I HAVE READ ABOUT SIMPLE THTINGS AND SERIOUS THINGS TOGETHER AND ALL MEANT ONE GREAT THING FOR ME.IT IS ALL A MATTER OF CHOOSING HOW TO FEEL ABOUT ALL..THANKS AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

  6. Jan Kennedy says:

    Making choices…”Everything you need to do to transform your life is easy to do and easy not to do.” Jeff Olson’s, The Slight Edge. Great book. Thanks for your take on this, Rick!

  7. Wow Jan, that’s perfect… easy to do, and easy not to do!

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