Everyday life presents us with opportunities to choose. Sometimes we make the best out of them and sometimes we make choices that we will only regret later on. Sometimes we feel like we have no choices because we just have to go with whatever is there but remember, choosing is an action, and not choosing is a choice too. As William James said, “When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that is in itself a choice.”
Choices have consequences and that is a lesson I teach my family every day. To my family, all know that when you do something as I open my mouth, the first line that comes out is, “Choices have consequences.” This is a lesson I want to engrave on my children’s hearts as they grow up. So that every time they decide on something, they know, there are consequences to their decisions.
Indecisiveness
A lot of people suffer from indecisiveness. Sometimes as our freedom of choice expands, we even feel less and less liberated. It is however important to remember that, there is always an opportunity cost in every decision you make or fail to make. Choosing between one thing and another becomes more difficult when we have a wide pool of options. However it comes down to one thing, it is either this or that and one has to be forgone. Always be conscious of the cost of what you have given up. (Opportunity cost)
Life offers us choices to remind us that we can’t have everything. Some things have to give in order for us to have others. We therefore cannot afford to be indecisive. So we ought to know what we want in order for us to make the right choices. We cannot have everything. Even if we can afford it, we do not need everything in life!
Choices matter
Every day of our lives, we all make choices, some big that they will affect the rest of our lives and some so small that we hardly notice. Life is a constant stream of choices. There are a billion things we need to do, but we must make choices. Because as Greg McKeown said, “When we forget our ability to choose, we give our power away to others.”
Through cognitive-behavioral therapy, I realized the importance of choice among human beings. It’s a wonderful thing to know that at any moment you have the freedom, the ability, and the power to choose what to do and how to live your life. Choice is the greatest gift we get from life. However, that doesn’t mean it is easy. Making a choice can sometimes be the hardest thing that one has to do. Understanding that our choices will either build or destroy our lives and that our future and destiny may be sorely dependent on the choices we make makes choices tougher.
If we use them wisely, choices are liberating but if we fail to use them wisely, they are incriminating. We also need to be able to factor in the time factor when making choices because as Hunters. Thompson said, “A man who procrastinates in his choosing will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance.”
No matter how much we look at it, life is a series of choices, and in every moment we have to choose. All we need to do is to ensure that we are prepared enough to make a choice and be able to wisely evaluate our options. Because choice can either build or destroys us.
“The choices you make today determine your autobiography tomorrow.” — James Altucher. Therefore choose wisely!
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