Decisions, Decisions
I had a roommate whose hardest, daily decision was the choice of an outfit. Every day, she’d stand in front of her closet for a minimum of 30 minutes, attempting to decide on a final outfit. One she wouldn’t put on again the day after.
Decisions are ugly little parasites. Whilst they may mean freedom and liberty of choice, they also indicate dilemmas and uncertainty. Decisions are such a weird paradox. Furthermore, you get thousands of these parasites on a daily basis, and hundreds of bigger, stronger ones in the course of your life.
A friend of mine wakes up every single day to ask the same question: “So, where are we going to have breakfast today?” See, that’s funny because we live in a small town that has four (decent) restaurants. And we are in college so we only wake up minutes before class, which makes the only breakfast option a snack bar from a vending machine. Why she pretends we have a say in the matter beats me.
But then, another friend of mine is never off the phone. Every day is a series of phone calls to make major business decisions. Nonetheless, choosing an outfit with my roommate was more complicated than her business calls, but I’m not judging.
Other major decisions in our lives include career choice, choosing a major, choosing to get married… These happen once in a lifetime and hold the power to throw out our tiny boat of life. But then, other small decisions occur more frequently. Yet, we don’t give them much importance.
You see, these small decisions carry our little boat. They keep us afloat. If I decide to have cereal for lunch and that makes me happy, yipee, one point for me, zero Universe! If I decide to wear a short red dress in a snowy September and that makes me happy (despite a potential hint of pneumonia) well, Universe, sucks to be you.
The point is this: “BIG” decisions are crucial. “SMALL” decisions are even more vital. We became acquainted with working on autopilot, live the same day on repeat; the same meals, same transportation, same circles. We seldom stop to think about whether these tiny decisions make us happy.
My roommate used to spend so much time facing her closet, but when she finally decided on an outfit (and god, was I thrilled that my pain was over), she’d be delightfully jumping around, confidence radiating from her.
So this is your short, daily reminder to take care of yourself through prioritizing those almost invisible decisions. Make the best of them and do not let your boat be the new Titanic.
