BAD DECISIONS -- YOU CAN'T ALWAYS BE RIGHT…

"A mistake repeated more than once is a decision." -- Paulo Coelho

YOU CAN'T ALWAYS BE RIGHT…

We make a ton of decisions and are faced with all kinds of choices, everyday… Many of which are quite serious, that require us to be -- right. From the moment we wake and have to decide between the Fruity Pebbles cereal (wrong choice) or the organic raw oatmeal sweetened with fresh fruit (better choice) -- we know that Fruity Pebbles is slowly killing us.., and that choosing the oatmeal is a no-brainer.., but a decision, none the less.

We are bombarded with decision making all day, everyday.., and while much of this process is on autopilot., based on our personal experience, knowledge, habit and perceptions -- there is still a lot of unseen pressure to make the right decision.., all day -- everyday!

And some of these decisions are not always a no-brainer…

While screwing up occasionally, should be expected… And picking the Fruity Peebles once in a blue moon won't kill you (I don't think) -- there are decisions that carry some weight, that can change the course of your life.., that's right -- life changing decisions:

•   Should I get married (or divorced)
•   Are we ready to have children
•   Where Should I got to college (should I even go to college)
•   Buy that house
•   Quit your job
•   Cheat on your girlfriend (boyfriend)
•   …or blow that red light

The list obviously goes on…

We make on average 35,000 remotely conscious decisions a day, 227 on food alone… I don't care how good you think you are, there ain't no-way you can nail them all.., the point being -- we all fuck-up! You will be wrong, make bad decisions.., and yes -- you will even fail. It's called life!

"I don't want to make decisions about what I'm eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make." -- Barack Obama

And all those choices we make on a daily basis, throw in a trip to the grocery store (MY GOD think about all the decisions you make at the grocery store) and not only will you make a few bad ones -- it's stressing many people out! Our kids are even stressed out, to the tune of about one third, of all children experience some sort of physical manifestation that is normally related to, too much stress -- sleeplessness, headaches, stomach aches…

Besides all the decisions are children are faced with.., many concerning school and that whole "getting into a good college" thing.., there's financial decisions -- many of them are worrying about their families finances. Toss in the never ending amount of social media they are exposed to 24/7 and they are decision making machines… And it can be fucking tiring after a while -- making decisions non-stop.

Paradox of Choice

Freewill is amazing. Having freewill, the ability to make our own choices.., it s pretty much what makes life so freakin' cool. But while all this "free choice" stuff might look good on paper, we are faced with, so damned many choices, it might not be such a good thing -- in reality. Some people suffer from Decision Fatigue they are so overwhelmed with the amount choice available -- one decision after another…

All those "insignificant" decisions we make day in, day out-- "Chicken or Fish" "Wine or a Cocktail" "Latte or Cappuccino" -- can be exhausting.., and effect the way we deal with the more important decisions we have to inevitably make… We are making bad decisions (big ones), like buying that big house at the height of the housing boom, that one you couldn't really afford -- big screw ups like that could be made because of decision overload… The minutia of life, all the tweets, posts and updates.., combined with those life changing ones -- can be a lot to deal with…

"Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes
from bad decisions." -- Unknown

Owning It

When you do.., and you will, make one of those bad decisions -- own it! There is nothing worse than watching someone that cannot admit they screwed up, making a bad situation even worse, compounding the problem by not admitting you made a bad decision in the first place, is painful -- JUST OWN IT!

Making bad decisions, the wrong choice, failing -- can be some of the greatest moments of your life… We all know -- we learn from our mistakes.., but it is so much more than that… Having the courage to fail, are where all your great successes will come from -- but they will come, few and far between, if you don't own all those previous "less than stellar" decisions made along the way.

We have the ability to take something away with us, to chose what we learn from those more unfortunate decisions… Making lemonade out of lemons -- but only if we own it. We all screw up, drop the ball -- making bad decisions will never go out of fashion… And when you do "step in it" and you will, have the wisdom to recognize it, acknowledge it, learn from it.., and move on from it!


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