Every day is a gift from God. Each day presents to us an array of options to choose from. How the day turns out is a consummation of the choices we made. Each choice determines the direction and outcome of that day. Cumulatively, those choices determine the direction and outcome of our lives. In these three parts series, we will (a) understand what choice is, (b) how the choices we make affect us, and (c) how to make the right choices.
I remember one of the questions our primary school English teacher asked us. “What would you like to be when you grow up?” Some of us wanted to be lawyers. Some wanted to be doctors, others engineers, teachers and so much more. I am sure that some of you remember being asked such a question at some point early in your life. Looking back now, I realize that for the first time in our young lives, we were being asked to make a lifelong choice. Do you remember what your response was? When you look back into your life, are you what you said then that you wanted to be? Most importantly, are you happy with what you are today?
“Facts are stubborn things.” – Ronald Reagan, former president of the United States of America. You cannot change the facts. You only have to deal with them. We are all born into some backgrounds. There is nothing we can do about it. If your parents grew up in a slum, gave birth to you in the slum, and raised you there, that is part of the condition into which you were born. If, on the other hand, your parents were raised in an affluent suburb, got married there, gave birth to you, and raised you there, that will be part of the conditions into which you were born. These are facts and you can’t change them. But let’s take a moment to understand these two pre-existing conditions. A slum is a settlement or neighborhood inhabited by poor people. Slums are often very over crowed with little or no access to basic living amenities such as security, schools, adequate access to sanitation, and health facilities. Some of the consequences of residing in a slum are health challenges. The health issues include but are not limited to mental and psychosomatic ailments, poor social behaviors, and all those things that society frowns at. On the other hand, people who reside in affluent neighborhoods have access to some of the best schools, best medical facilities, and their communities are usually better secured. They live in beautiful large houses irresistibly appealing to the eyes with perfectly manicured landscapes. Some people are born black and others white or brown. There is nothing anyone can do about these pre-existing conditions. They are facts of life.
Do these conditions affect us? Yes. They do. Are those effects the determining factors of what we become and how our life turns out? Well, that depends. You can have access to the best social amenities and still windup miserable and unsuccessful. The person who grew up not having access to much of social amenities can turn out to be a high achiever and happy. Why? It is that six-letter word called choice. How you look at the circumstances of your birth is a key factor in how it affects you. Even when it appears that the circumstances are beyond your control, you still have a choice to make. The choice that you make determines what happens next.
So how does choice work? Choice is the act of choosing one option over the other(s). In other words, you have access to more than one possibility or option. The act of choosing involves decision making. And it may appear simple. But it is not always so. When people are faced with many choices, they tend to make the wrong choice. Some give up on making any choice and pass the bulk to others. Quite frankly, it is not unusual. Several reasons are responsible for this behavior. Sometimes it is psychological but other times, it’s emotional, practical, or even sociological.
Certain kinds of choice may require a longer time to think it through. A lot more is done within a few seconds. For instance, it doesn’t take long to decide whether to watch television or read a book. But, it will require a longer time to decide whether to renovate your home or buy another one. To make a decision for immediate or long term events, you will have to weigh the pros and cons. That means you have to analyze the benefits and qualities. This is where your priorities come to play. When next you have to make a decision, remember that you are going through a process. Even when you decide not to make a choice, you are still choosing not to chose. The reason is, whether you make a decision to make a choice or you decide not to make a choice, you are still making a choice. When you refuse to make a choice, you are choosing another to choose for you.
Either way, the benefits or downfall will accrue to you. Remember this, for every choice you make there is a consequence.
My charge to you this week is to make out time, reflect on some of your choices, and note the outcome of those choices.
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