The cliche of the day is the one about choices: life is one choice after another. It's all choices, whether you acknowledge it or not. The tough thing about choices is that you never can predict the outcome. You have to trust yourself and trust something unknown that all will be well. There are the little choices. Do I read or do I go out and do yard work? Do I let the dogs in or let them stay out? Do I have a cookie for breakfast or not? There are the medium choices. Do I spend money on a trip to Ireland or do I save the money to help pay for college expenses? Do I get a mammogram this year or skip it? Do I agree to edit the yearbook again this year or decline? And, of course, there are the BIG decisions/choices. Work or graduate school? Marry this man or not? Move to another part of the country or stay put?
Funny thing is , even those little choices can get you. Surprises do happen. Choices made that then led to the unexpected. I chose to take a bike ride one afternoon and ended up with broken bones. I went out to have lunch with my aunt one afternoon 35 years ago and ended up with a job teaching 8th grade. I registered for a class one semester at SJSU and ended up getting divorced. Go figure.
And the big ones? You do the best you can with the information that you have. You make the choice and ride it out, never really knowing the outcome of any different options. You made a choice and life unfolded. And, still, surprises do happen. Maybe even more so with the big choices. And maybe all you can do is live and wait and be willing to be surprised.
I suppose we can only hope that as we get older our choices are guided by some benchmark.......some internal measuring tool, so that as I choose, the trajectory of my life nears a vision that has been established. At that point all roads lead to the desired end, and though I may struggle at times, ultimately I can ask myself, "Now self, what is the direction am headed?", and then the choices become no brainers.......
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