Life is like a visit to the bakery. You have a pretty good idea what it is you’re going to buy as you walk in the door and then you’re faced with all these delicious smells and delectable treats. You stand there taking it all in, trying to remember that you only came for a loaf of bread and not the cream doughnuts or custard tarts. “No, we’re just getting the bread”, you say to yourself in a firm voice. Then you realize that choosing bread is not so easy either. What kind of bread would you like? Seeds or no seeds, gluten free, high in fibre, white, sour dough, rye or wholemeal? The choices are endless. Somehow, we make a decision and live with it. We may even decide to get some doughnuts too. We don’t stand in the bakery for hours on end contemplating every aspect of the bread we choose to buy. We don’t worry about what the consequences of choosing that bread will be five years from now. We accept we’ve made the best decision we could at the time and we also realize that we can always try something different if this loaf of bread turns out to be a bad choice. We can even go to a different bakery next time.
Life is like that too. We can only make the best choice in the moment, not the perfect choice. It can be hard when we’re faced with so many options and it’s hard to tell which one will be best.
- Is this the right career for me?
- Should I commit to this relationship?
- Do I want to buy a house?
- What if this diet doesn’t work?
- Where should I go on holiday?
- What if this business fails?
- Should I take a chance and follow my dreams?
Choices, choices, choices. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. We become so paranoid about making a mistake but the reality is that as long as we are alive we get to choose again.
That doesn’t mean that we don’t have disappointments, losses, pain or hardship. We suffer at times but life doesn’t end there. We get to visit the bakery of life over and over again. We get to change our minds, do things the same way or do them differently. Not making a choice is the only choice that keeps us stuck.